A Complete Office Move Checklist for Your Organization

Relocating Your Office? Use Our Corporate Move Checklist to Get Ready

Corporate moves are increasingly common as rural and suburban businesses relocate to the urban areas that attract younger talent. With an average of $16,229,125 spent per company each year, American organizations spend $25 billion a year on relocation. And much like moving and packing your house, relocating an office and all of your employees takes plenty of patience and preparation. Use our office move checklist below to help make the transition as seamless as possible.

Step by Step Tips for Moving the Office 

1. Set a Time Frame and Take Inventory

First things first, create an office move project plan: 

• □ Coordinate with the landlord or property manager at your new and current building to determine your moving day. 
• □ Create a list of furniture, assets and other materials that need to be packed and moved. 
• □ Keep in mind that most leases require your space to be “broom-swept” once the move is complete – this means no office furniture left behind.

2. Select an Office Moving Company

If you’re relocating locally, employees can pack their own belongings to bring to the new office. However, you’ll still need a moving company to move larger pieces like desks, waiting room furniture, filing systems and other equipment.

10 Tips for Moving with a Corporate Relocation Service:

• □ Ask friends and colleagues for recommendations and check online reviews.
• □ Gather three to five estimates from different moving companies.
• □ Ask prospective companies to send you their insurance information.
• □ Never agree to pay a large deposit upfront. In fact, most reputable moving companies won’t ask for anything upfront.
• □ Communicate move-in dates and points of access with the building managers at your current and new locations.
• □ Plan to move outside of normal business hours.
• □ Ask your building manager to make sure the AC or heat will stay on if moving over the weekend.
• □ Check with your buildings about parking restrictions or instructions for the loading dock.
• □ Plan to unpack IT equipment first to set up the network and phone systems.
• □ Keep your employees informed every step of the way so they know how their work will be impacted.

Often, businesses get rid of their old cubicles, chairs and filing systems during the move. Not only does this modernize their new space but moving the old furniture can be more expensive and time-consuming than buying replacements. 

If you’re planning to get rid of your old desks and chairs, jump down to our Office Furniture Removal tips.

3. Prepare Employees for the Office Move

• □ Send an email to your staff outlining all the details of the office move. 
• □ If possible, hold a townhall meeting to answer any questions your team has and explain what they will be responsible for during the move. 
• □ Depending on the size of your office, you can assign a group or several groups of people to handle specific steps in your company move checklist. 
• □ Also create a list of all employees who will be on-site during the move. 

When moving to a new state, many corporations offer relocation incentives to their employees. In this case, you will need to research moving costs and reputable companies in the area to put together a package. 

4. Notify Your Contacts and Utilities

Let your clients or customers know about your office move ASAP to avoid any confusion or business loss. If you have an email subscription list, announce the move in a newsletter and on social media. Or you can send direct mail to your customers for a more personalized touch. To spread the word, you might also consider sending a press release to local news outlets.

And just like moving to a new house, you’ll need to notify the post office of your changed address and contact all of your utility providers to have services up and ready at your new location.

Pro-Tip: Don’t forget to set up permanent dumpster service at your new location. 

5. Pack and Purge the Office

Leading up to the office move, ask employees to take a few minutes each day to sort through desk drawers and other personal spaces. Shred and recycle paperwork you don’t need and get rid of items that no longer serve a purpose. Create an office inventory list as you pack to keep track of file cabinets and office supplies.

If your budget allows, you can hire a packing service to speed up the process. In either case, consider using color-coded labels while packing supplies, fixtures and equipment to indicate where everything will go in the new space.

Pro-Tip: Before you start the purging process, contact your dumpster service to let them know about your cleanout. Your representative may recommend a larger container, an additional roll off dumpster or more frequent pickups to help you avoid overage fees.

Planning for Old Office Furniture Removal

The EPA estimates up to 17 billion pounds of office assets end up in U.S. landfills each year. To save it from the landfill, here are three of the most popular office furniture disposal options.

1. Donate Office Furniture to Charity

First, look for a donation center near you. Not only is donation an inexpensive way to get rid of your old furniture, but it’s also beneficial to your community. Many donation centers offer free office furniture pickup or charge a very small fee. For example, The Cleveland Furniture Bank accepts furniture donations and redistributes the pieces to families in the area. 

“Our mission is to provide furniture for families. For someone who has nothing, we can convert office furniture to be used in the home,” said Tom Gaghan, Executive Director of The Cleveland Furniture Bank. “We’ll look at your furniture and determine what we can and cannot use so you can determine what to do with the other items.”

The Salvation Army also accepts office furniture for their Salvation Army Family Stores. Pickups can be scheduled online through SAtruck.org. 

2. Hire an Office Furniture Liquidation Company

Liquidation is another great way to save some money on corporate moving expenses. For example, EthoSource refurbishes and redistributes office furniture to save it from the landfill. “Sometimes it certainly makes sense to disassemble their furniture, move it and reinstall it. But in a lot of cases, companies cannot afford that downtime,” said Bryon Kauffman, Vice President of Sales at EthoSource. “They need their new facilities to be up and ready to go over the weekend. That downtime is costlier than buying new furniture.”

Not only can a company like EthoSource help you get rid of your old furniture, but they provide eco-friendly options for furnishing your new office. “We equate ourselves to pre-owned high-end furniture. Our model allows companies that might not ordinarily afford nice furniture to buy something nice and save money,” said Kauffman. “In an ideal scenario, we’re involved in selling them furniture going into their new building and liquidating their old furniture.”

Pro-Tip: "Dates are very critical. Typically, the more notice we have about a liquidation, the more value the furniture will have because we have time to market it and determine who our buyers will be.”
Bryon Kauffman | Vice President of Sales, EthoSource

3. Rent a Dumpster to Dispose of Old Office Furniture

Renting a roll off dumpster can be a big help when getting ready for an office move. For instance, cubicles are typically built for your specific space. And when organizations try to move them to another office, the configuration often doesn’t fit. Most cubicles contain metal that can be scrapped, but the rest can be tossed. In cases like these, a dumpster is often the most convenient way to dispose of old office furniture.

Get Ready to Move to Your New Office

After you finish packing, complete the final walk-through and double-check your inventory lists, you’ll be ready to set up shop.  We hope our office move checklist helps you plan for the transition so you can enjoy your new space quickly!

Are you planning an office move? Let us know about it in the comments below. And for more disposal tips, check out our Disposal Guides.