Office Move Checklist: How to Relocate Without Downtime

Start by naming an office move coordinator

An office move goes wrong when everyone assumes someone else is handling it. Before you pick a date, name one office move coordinator with the authority to make decisions and the time to do the job. In a small office that is usually the office manager or the owner. In a larger one, add a lead from each department.

Then give every major task an owner:

The rest of this office relocation checklist is organized by time. Start earlier for a large office. A small one can compress the schedule.

Office move checklist: three to six months before

• Read your current lease for notice dates, restoration requirements, and move-out rules
• Confirm when the new space will be ready: build-out, power, data wiring, keys, and access cards
• Order internet and phone service at the new address. Business installations can take weeks, so get a firm install date before you set the move date
• Measure the new space and draft a floor plan. Give every office, workstation, and common area a number
• Decide what is moving. Old files, broken chairs, and dead equipment cost money to move
• Get quotes from commercial movers. A good quote starts with a walkthrough of your space, not a guess over the phone
• Set the budget and get the date approved

This stage is most of how to plan an office move. Decisions made early are cheap. The same decisions made in the last week cost overtime and lost work.

Six to eight weeks before the move

• Book the mover and reserve the elevators and loading docks at both buildings. Ask each building for its move rules and whether it needs a certificate of insurance from the mover
• Tell employees the date, the new address, and what they are responsible for
• Start the notices to customers, vendors, banks, and the post office. Our guide on how to announce a business move covers who to tell and when
• Order new furniture, signs, business cards, and anything else with a lead time
• Plan the technology move with IT: backups, the shutdown order, and who reconnects what. See moving IT equipment and servers
• Arrange shredding, recycling, or donation pickups for what is not coming
• Assign every person and every shared printer, copier, and cabinet a location number from the floor plan

The last two weeks: packing and labeling

Hand out boxes, labels, and a one-page instruction sheet. The goal is simple: every item that leaves the old office carries a label that says exactly where it lands in the new one.

• Each employee packs their own desk and labels every box with their name and location number
• Label furniture, monitors, and computers the same way. Bag keyboards, mice, and cables together so each workstation travels as a set
• Laptops, personal valuables, and plants go home with their owners
• Empty desk drawers. Ask your mover whether filing cabinets should be emptied or can travel loaded
• Back up all data and confirm the backup can be restored
• Pack the common areas: kitchen, supply room, reception, and storage
• Post copies of the floor plan at the entrance of the new space and put the location number on every door
• Reconfirm the schedule with the mover, both buildings, your IT provider, and the internet installer

If your staff cannot stop working to pack, a crew can do it. Our packing services include the boxes, paper, bubble wrap, and tape.

Move day and the first morning

1. Put the move coordinator at the old office to direct loading and a second person at the new office, floor plan in hand, to direct placement
2. IT shuts down and disconnects equipment in the agreed order. Our crews move computers, monitors, printers, and peripherals labeled by desk, and coordinate with your IT provider on servers
3. Furniture goes in first, then boxes to each numbered desk, then technology
4. Walk the old space before the truck leaves. Check closets, the kitchen, wall-mounted items, and the mail room
5. Test phones, internet, printers, and door access before anyone reports to work
6. On the first morning, give every employee a short welcome sheet: where things are, where empty boxes go, and who to call when something is missing

How to limit downtime during an office move

• Move outside business hours. A Friday evening start gives you the weekend to set up and test. Commercial moves are commonly scheduled on nights and weekends for this reason
• Have internet and phones live first. Do not move into a space with no working connection
• Keep the phones answered. Forward the main line to a cell phone or an answering service during the cutover
• Move in phases if the office is large: storage and archives first, then one department at a time
• Protect the critical functions. Decide which people and systems must be working at opening time and set those up first
• Warn customers. A short notice about limited availability on move day prevents most complaints

Build your office moving timeline backward from the hour you need to be open, not forward from the hour the truck arrives.

What to ask commercial movers before you book

• Will you walk through our space before quoting?
• Can you move us on an evening or a weekend?
• How do you pack, label, and move computers and electronics?
• Who takes apart and reassembles desks, conference tables, and shelving?
• Can you provide the certificate of insurance our buildings require?
• How do you protect floors, walls, doors, and elevators?
• What valuation coverage is included, and what are the options? Our post on moving insurance and valuation explains the terms

Allpoints Moving Services is a family-owned, licensed and insured mover based in Metro Atlanta, in business since 1999. Our commercial and office moving crews handle packing, furniture disassembly and assembly, and loading and unloading, and we regularly work nights and weekends so offices can open on time.

Commercial quotes are free and based on a walkthrough of your space. Request a quote or call (678) 886-0944.