--- title: "Florida FAR/BAR AS IS Contract: What AS IS Really Means" description: "The FAR/BAR AS IS form leaves most inspection-related repairs to the buyer, while preserving inspection, timely written cancellation, maintenance and disclosure duties." published: "2026-10-12" canonical: "https://blog.angieheitzer.com/blog/florida-far-bar-as-is-contract" author: "Angie Heitzer" --- The AS IS Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase is commonly called the FAR/BAR AS IS contract. Sellers generally need not fix inspection findings or give credits, although maintenance duties remain and the parties can agree otherwise. You can inspect during the contract’s inspection period and cancel by delivering written notice before it expires if the property is unacceptable to you. AS IS does not erase disclosure duties. Most of the confusion comes from the name. AS IS sounds like a warning about the house. In the contract, it describes repairs. Say you're under contract on a 1940s cottage a few blocks off Centre Street. The form doesn't stop you from hiring inspectors or rejecting the property during the inspection period. But cancellation requires timely written notice, and repairs or credits need agreement rather than an assumption that the seller will handle them. ## Why does the contract carry two names? The contract carries two names because Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar produce it together. FAR comes from Florida Association of Realtors, the association name recorded in its [governance documents](https://www.floridarealtors.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/2019%20LRG%20text-compressed.pdf). BAR is The Florida Bar. The organizations jointly publish both the AS IS and Residential versions. ![AS IS contract comparison: buyers inspect and meet notice deadlines; sellers retain maintenance and disclosure duties, while repairs or credits require agreement.](https://yfvhnfihkflbnivhcgge.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/blog-images/angie-heitzer/florida-far-bar-as-is-contract/figure-1.svg) Florida Realtors is [the largest professional trade association in the state](https://www.floridarealtors.org/about), with more than 230,000 members. It began with 68 brokers from 16 Florida communities meeting in Jacksonville for a first convention in 1916. The current version is published as the [AS IS Residential Contract for Sale and Purchase](https://www.floridarealtors.org/media/5857), form code FloridaRealtors-FloridaBar-ASIS-7x. If you're handed something else, ask which form it is and why. ## What does an AS IS contract mean in Florida? In Florida, the FAR/BAR AS IS form generally leaves inspection-related repairs to the buyer unless the parties negotiate otherwise. The seller still has maintenance and disclosure duties. The buyer can inspect and reject the property during the inspection period, but must deliver written cancellation notice to the seller before that period expires. | Question | Under a FAR/BAR AS IS contract | |---|---| | Who handles inspection-related repairs? | Generally the buyer unless the parties agree otherwise; the seller’s maintenance duties remain. | | Can you inspect? | Yes, during the contract’s inspection period. | | Can you cancel? | Yes, if the property is unacceptable to you, by delivering written notice before the inspection period expires. | | Does the seller still disclose? | Yes. Known material facts that are not readily observable and not known to the buyer must be disclosed. | | Who publishes the form? | Florida Realtors and The Florida Bar. | ## Can you ask for repairs on an AS IS contract? You can ask. Nothing in the form makes the seller say yes. What you have instead is the inspection period and a seller who would rather not start over with a new buyer. Sometimes that produces a credit. Sometimes it produces a polite no and a decision you have to make on the merits of the house itself. Sellers face the same math from the other side. When I review a listing with a seller, I start with the active competition, the roof and major-system documentation, and any deferred maintenance a buyer will notice on the walk-through. A seller who can hand over receipts before the inspection is negotiating from a different position than one who finds out about the failed water heater at the same time the buyer does. ## What should a home inspection cover on Amelia Island? For an Amelia Island home, I would ask the inspector to pay particular attention to exposed metal, the roof and accessible structural connections. Then I would ask which concerns need a specialist. The point is to inspect the actual house and its exposure, rather than assume that a nearby house tells you how this one has aged. Ask what your inspector’s written scope includes, and arrange additional help where needed: Have the surveyor and insurance professional explain the elevation and flood designation; do not infer them from listing photos. If the parcel uses a well or septic system, ask for records and arrange the appropriate specialist inspections. Ask whether a separate wood-destroying-organism inspection is needed. For an older home near downtown, ask about permits, additions and accessible crawlspaces. Age alone is not the verdict; the condition and documentation of that particular house are what you need to understand. ## Does the seller still have to disclose defects under an AS IS contract? Yes, a seller who knows about a defect that materially affects the home's value and isn't readily observable still has to disclose it, AS IS clause or not. This is where the name misleads people. An AS IS clause is a contract term, and it does not rewrite Florida law on disclosure. The Florida Bar Journal's discussion of Johnson v. Davis states the standard this way: "where the seller of a home knows of facts materially affecting the value of the property which are not readily observable and are not known to the buyer, the seller is under a duty to disclose them to the buyer." The same article quotes a court on whether an as-is clause changes that: ["we discern no 'as is' contractual exception to the duty imposed on the seller herein by the Johnson decision."](https://www.floridabar.org/the-florida-bar-journal/the-return-of-the-pink-panther-or-johnson-v-davis-redux/) So AS IS covers the repairs. It does not cover silence about something the seller knew and you couldn't have seen. ## What changed this year, and what should you do before you sign? This year Section 18.I.(iii) was updated for a federal FinCEN reporting rule that a court later vacated, and before you sign, consult a Florida-licensed real estate lawyer and settle your inspection and cancellation rights in the offer. The form moves. Section 18.I.(iii) of both the FR/Bar and the FR/Bar AS IS contracts was updated for a federal rule whose [reporting requirements began March 1, 2026](https://www.floridarealtors.org/news-media/news-articles/2026/02/fincen-rule-rider-updates-take-effect), under which the Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network would require a Real Estate Report for certain non-financed residential transfers to entities or trusts. Eighteen days later a federal district court in Texas [vacated that rule](https://www.floridarealtors.org/news-media/news-articles/2026/03/court-decision-fincen-real-estate-rule), finding the agency had exceeded its authority, and FinCEN confirmed that "reporting persons are not currently required to file real estate reports with FinCEN and are not subject to liability if they fail to do so while the order remains in force." Juana Watkins, Florida Realtors' vice president of law and policy and general counsel, gave the reason the paperwork keeps changing [when an earlier round of revisions was announced](https://www.floridarealtors.org/news-media/news-articles/2021/09/florida-realtors-updates-frbar-contracts-and-riders): "Laws, technology practice and society change over time, and Florida Realtors updates its forms every few years to respond to those changes." Which is the argument for reading the version in front of you rather than assuming it matches the last one you saw. [The Florida Bar's consumer guidance for buyers](https://www.floridabar.org/public/consumer/pamphlet006/) is direct about the first step: "Consult with an experienced, Florida-licensed real estate lawyer before you sign a purchase contract." It lists the questions to settle in advance: "Do you have the right to inspect the property including inspecting for mold? When do inspections need to be made? Do you have the right to cancel the contract after inspections?" Answer those three while you're still writing the offer, before the clock starts. If you're weighing a home on Amelia Island and want help deciding what an inspection report actually means for an offer you've already made, I'm glad to sit down with it. AS IS sets the terms of the repairs. It was never meant to set the limits of what you're allowed to find out.