The British Antique Furniture Restorers Association was founded in 1979 by a group of graduates of West Dean College, Sussex, England, they having all completed the BADA Diploma course in Antique Furniture Restoration and Conservation BADA, The British Antique Dealers' Association. This was a period of a spiraling antique furniture prices and the proliferation of unqualified and unskilled Antique Furniture Restorers.

BAFRA's founders felt strongly that the public and antique trade needed some form of protection for their furniture as did the established craftsmen.

Applicant Requirements for Full BAFRA Membership

Entrants must have at least five years experience in the profession, with high achievement in cabinet making and finishing skills, and equally high standards in some of the more specialist techniques such as gilding, boullework, pietra dure or lacquerwork. A thorough knowledge of Furniture History is also expected.