diff --git a/tests/test_utils/event_builders.py b/tests/test_utils/event_builders.py
new file mode 100644
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+++ b/tests/test_utils/event_builders.py
@@ -0,0 +1,140 @@
+#
+# This file is licensed under the Affero General Public License (AGPL) version 3.
+#
+# Copyright (C) 2026 Element Creations Ltd.
+#
+# This program is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
+# it under the terms of the GNU Affero General Public License as
+# published by the Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the
+# License, or (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# See the GNU Affero General Public License for more details:
+# <https://www.gnu.org/licenses/agpl-3.0.html>.
+#
+"""Test-only helpers for building events.
+
+The Rust `Event` constructor strictly validates that all format-required
+fields are present on the event dict. Most production code paths always
+supply these, but tests routinely build minimal dicts that omit fields
+like `depth`, `hashes`, `origin_server_ts`, `auth_events`, or
+`prev_events`. This module provides `make_test_event`, which fills in
+sensible defaults for the required fields based on the event format
+version, so individual tests only need to specify the fields they
+actually care about.
+"""
+
+from typing import Any
+
+from synapse.api.room_versions import (
+    EventFormatVersions,
+    RoomVersion,
+    RoomVersions,
+)
+from synapse.events import EventBase, make_event_from_dict
+from synapse.federation.federation_base import event_from_pdu_json
+from synapse.types import JsonDict
+
+
+def default_event_fields(room_version: RoomVersion) -> JsonDict:
+    """Return the default values for every field required by `room_version`.
+
+    Tests can call this directly when they need to merge defaults into a
+    builder (e.g. inside another helper) rather than constructing the
+    event up-front.
+    """
+    defaults: JsonDict = {
+        "type": "m.test",
+        "sender": "@test:test",
+        "content": {},
+        "depth": 1,
+        "origin_server_ts": 1,
+        "hashes": {"sha256": ""},
+    }
+
+    if room_version.event_format == EventFormatVersions.ROOM_V1_V2:
+        # V1 events store auth/prev as `[(event_id, hashes)]` pairs and
+        # carry an explicit `event_id` and `room_id`.
+        defaults["auth_events"] = []
+        defaults["prev_events"] = []
+        defaults["room_id"] = "!test:test"
+        defaults["event_id"] = "$test:test"
+    elif room_version.event_format in (
+        EventFormatVersions.ROOM_V3,
+        EventFormatVersions.ROOM_V4_PLUS,
+    ):
+        # V2/V3 and V4 share the flat auth/prev list shape. V2/V3 always
+        # carry a `room_id`; V4 makes it optional on create events but
+        # required otherwise, so callers building non-create events
+        # supply it explicitly.
+        defaults["auth_events"] = []
+        defaults["prev_events"] = []
+        defaults["room_id"] = "!test:test"
+    else:
+        # V11 Hydra+ and VMSC4242 derive the room_id from the create
+        # event's ID, so we never default it here — providing one would
+        # break auth-event derivation for create events on these
+        # versions. Callers supply room_id explicitly on non-create
+        # events.
+        defaults["auth_events"] = []
+        defaults["prev_events"] = []
+
+    if room_version.msc4242_state_dags:
+        defaults["prev_state_events"] = []
+
+    return defaults
+
+
+def make_test_event(
+    event_dict: JsonDict | None = None,
+    room_version: RoomVersion = RoomVersions.V1,
+    internal_metadata_dict: JsonDict | None = None,
+    rejected_reason: str | None = None,
+    **fields: Any,
+) -> EventBase:
+    """Build an `EventBase` with defaults for the strict-required fields.
+
+    Pass an `event_dict` and/or `**fields` keyword arguments — both are
+    merged on top of the format-version defaults from
+    `default_event_fields`. Explicit values win over defaults, and
+    `**fields` wins over `event_dict` so call sites can override a
+    shared base dict with one-off tweaks.
+
+    Args:
+        event_dict: Explicit event fields. Wins over defaults; loses to
+            `**fields`.
+        room_version: Determines which format-specific defaults apply.
+        internal_metadata_dict: Forwarded to `make_event_from_dict`.
+        rejected_reason: Forwarded to `make_event_from_dict`.
+        **fields: Additional event fields. Wins over `event_dict`.
+
+    Returns:
+        The constructed `EventBase`.
+    """
+    merged: JsonDict = {
+        **default_event_fields(room_version),
+        **(event_dict or {}),
+        **fields,
+    }
+    return make_event_from_dict(
+        merged,
+        room_version=room_version,
+        internal_metadata_dict=internal_metadata_dict,
+        rejected_reason=rejected_reason,
+    )
+
+
+def make_test_pdu_event(
+    pdu: JsonDict,
+    room_version: RoomVersion,
+    received_time: int | None = None,
+) -> EventBase:
+    """Wrapper around `event_from_pdu_json` for test PDU dicts.
+
+    Federation-side test fixtures often omit fields the strict Rust ctor
+    requires (e.g. `hashes`, `auth_events`, `prev_events`, `depth`)
+    because those tests focus on transport/auth flow rather than event
+    well-formedness. This helper layers in the same format-version
+    defaults as `make_test_event` before delegating.
+    """
+    pdu = {**default_event_fields(room_version), **pdu}
+    return event_from_pdu_json(pdu, room_version, received_time=received_time)