The Ultimate Office Moving Checklist & Timeline

Align leadership, establish budgets, and analyze lease obligations before starting physical preparation.

• Appoint a Move Manager & Committee: Select a project leader (often an operations manager or HR lead) and assign coordinators from IT, finance, and department heads.
• Establish a Relocation Budget: Estimate costs for moving crews, furniture installation, IT wiring, packing materials, updated branding, and lease restoration. Learn more about planning in our Business Moving Guide.
• Review Lease Terms: Examine your current lease for exit clauses, notice periods, and decommissioning requirements. Read our Office Decommissioning Guide.
• Secure Architectural Drawings: Obtain the CAD files or blueprints for the new office layout to plan desk spacing, power drops, and seating arrangements.

Secure your moving partner, plan network cabling, and inventory office assets.

• Hire a Commercial Mover: Choose a licensed and fully insured moving company ($2M/$4M General Liability limit is standard for Class A buildings). Schedule a walkthrough with Business Moving Group.
• Schedule Cabling & IT Audits: Plan your networking drops. If you need data drops, fiber lines, or rack mounting, secure a vendor for IT & Server Relocation Services.
• Select Furniture Installers: If you are moving systems furniture (Steelcase, Herman Miller, Haworth), ensure your movers have certified installers. Check out our Office Furniture Installation Services.
• Inventory Current Assets: Document every desk, chair, monitor, and server. Decide what will be moved, liquidated, or recycled. Refer to our Office Decommissioning Guide.

Notify key stakeholders, request certificates of insurance, and coordinate address changes.

• Draft Move Announcements: Prepare customized notices for your clients, employees, and suppliers. Use our free, interactive Office Relocation Announcement Template.
• Notify Building Managers: Coordinate building rules for both spaces. Most commercial landlords require a Certificate of Insurance (COI) on file before giving access. Ask BMG to issue your building's COI for prompt access.
• Update Utilities & Services: Set up cut-off and activation dates for high-speed internet, telephone lines, electricity, and water at both locations.
• File Address Changes: Submit a change of address form with the USPS, and notify banks, credit card providers, legal counsel, and insurance agents.

Distribute packing materials, establish labeling standards, and finalize building protection plans.

• Distribute Packing Materials: Provide employees with crates, tape, and color-coded labels. Ensure each department has a designated color.
• Label Everything: Establish a numbering system. Every crate, monitor, and chair must bear a label showing the employee name and their new desk coordinate.
• Prepare Floor Protection: Confirm that your moving crew will install masonite sheet floor runners and door jamb pads to protect finishes during loading.

Execute the physical relocation, rebuild workstation layouts, and re-establish IT services.

• Final IT Shutdown: On Friday afternoon, have your IT team disconnect and pack all server racks, routers, and workstation equipment.
• Loading and Transport: The BMG crew loads systems furniture, workstations, and crates. Everything is secured in commercial trucks and transported.
• Workstation Rebuilding: Installers rebuild desks and cubicles at the new office according to the space planning blueprint.
• IT Reconnection: Tech teams mount routers, run patch cables, and hook up workstation PCs.

Verify office setup, clean and restore the old office space, and finalize address updates.

• Final Walkthrough: Check all new desks, monitors, and outlets. Mark any punch-list items for prompt adjustment.
• Restore Old Space: Landlords require old office spaces to be left in a "broom-clean" state. This requires modular system removal, cabling removal, and trash cleanup. Learn about our lease-saving Decommissioning Services.
• Verify Digital Footprint: Ensure your Google Business Profile, website footer, Yelp, and social media channels show the new address.