Moving an office is very different from moving a household. There may be desks, chairs and boxes to transport, but an office relocation can also involve expensive equipment, workstations, confidential materials, storage, building requirements and dozens—or even hundreds—of employees who need to get back to work as quickly as possible.
Choosing the right office moving company can have a significant impact on how smoothly the transition goes.
Some of the qualities you should look for are fairly obvious: experience, reliability, proper equipment and a professional moving crew. But there are also several factors businesses don’t always consider until they are in the middle of a move.
Here are some of the most important things to consider when choosing an office moving company.
Experience With Commercial and Office Moves
Experience matters, but it’s important to look for the right kind of experience.
A moving company may have years of experience with residential moves without necessarily having the same level of experience with commercial relocations. Office moves introduce different challenges, including coordinating multiple departments, dismantling workstations, handling office equipment and working around the operating requirements of a business.
An experienced commercial moving company should understand how to plan the move before moving day arrives.
At Redpath Relocations, commercial and office moves are our specialty. Our team has completed thousands of office moves and has more than 100 years of combined management experience in the commercial moving industry.
A Detailed Plan Before Moving Day
One of the biggest signs of a great office moving company is what happens before the truck arrives.
A professional mover should take the time to understand what is being moved, where it is going, the layout of the new location and any special requirements associated with the move.
Depending on the size of the relocation, planning may include:
- Creating a moving schedule
- Identifying furniture and equipment that require special handling
- Coordinating different departments or floors
- Planning loading and unloading
- Determining what needs to be dismantled and reassembled
- Coordinating access to the old and new buildings
- Identifying items going into storage
- Planning the order in which items should arrive at the new office
Great planning helps prevent moving day from becoming a series of last-minute decisions.
Proper planning can also help reduce workplace hazards during a relocation. WorkSafeBC provides workplace health and safety resources that businesses can consult when planning work that involves lifting, equipment movement and other potential hazards.
Minimizing Business Downtime
This is one of the biggest differences between a residential move and an office move.
When a household takes an extra day to unpack, it may be inconvenient. When a business takes an extra day or two to become operational, the cost can be much greater.
Employees may be unable to work. Customers may have difficulty reaching the business. Deliveries can be interrupted, appointments may need to be rescheduled and important projects can be delayed.
A great office moving company should therefore be thinking about more than simply how quickly everything can be loaded onto a truck. The goal should be to help your business make the transition with as little disruption as possible.
This can include coordinating the move around your operating hours and prioritizing essential furniture, equipment and work areas so employees can get back to work sooner.
A Dedicated Point of Contact
This is something businesses don’t always think to ask about: Who are you actually going to talk to during the move?
For a larger office relocation, having a move coordinator or dedicated point of contact can make a significant difference. Instead of trying to communicate separately with movers, drivers, installers and other people involved in the project, there should be someone responsible for keeping the different parts of the move organized.
A move coordinator can help manage schedules, answer questions, address unexpected issues and keep everyone working from the same plan.
For office moves involving multiple departments, locations or stages, this can be just as important as the physical moving itself.
Understanding Building Requirements
Here’s another detail that can easily be overlooked.
Commercial buildings often have rules surrounding moves. There may be specific loading areas, elevator reservations, approved moving hours, security procedures or requirements for protecting floors and common areas.
In some buildings, movers may only be allowed onsite during certain hours.
Discovering these requirements on moving day can cause unnecessary delays. An experienced office moving company should know to ask about building access and logistics ahead of time so they can be incorporated into the moving plan.
Knowing What Should Move—and What Shouldn’t
An office move is also an opportunity to decide what you actually want to bring into the new space.
Companies often accumulate furniture, filing cabinets, equipment and other items that are no longer needed. Paying to move everything to the new office only to dispose of it later doesn’t always make sense.
A full-service commercial moving company should be able to help you develop a plan for items that aren’t making the move.
Redpath Relocations offers furniture removal, recycling and repurposing services, allowing businesses to deal with unwanted office furnishings as part of the relocation rather than as a separate project.
An office relocation can also be a good opportunity to reduce waste by donating, repurposing or recycling furniture and equipment that is no longer needed. Businesses can use resources such as Metro Vancouver’s recycling programs to learn more about local recycling and disposal options.
Furniture Disassembly Is Only Half the Job
Getting a desk out of the old office isn’t particularly useful if nobody can put it back together at the new one.
Workstations, shelving, boardroom tables and modular office furniture may need to be carefully dismantled for transportation and then properly reassembled at the new location.
Ask your moving company whether office furniture installation and setup are part of the services they can provide.
Having one team handle both the move and furniture installation can simplify the process and help get the new workplace operational faster.
Where Will Everything Go at the New Office?
This sounds obvious, but it is one of the easiest ways for an office move to become disorganized.
If movers arrive at the new location and nobody knows where individual desks, chairs, filing cabinets, equipment and boxes belong, valuable time can be lost figuring it out.
A great moving plan should include the destination of major items before they leave the old office.
Labelling systems, floor plans and department-specific moving plans can make unloading much more efficient and reduce the amount of furniture that needs to be moved twice.
What Happens When the New Space Isn’t Ready?
Office moves don’t always happen according to a perfect schedule.
Construction can run late. Renovations can be delayed. New furniture may arrive at a different time than expected. A lease may end before the new office is completely ready.
That’s why storage capabilities can be an important consideration when choosing an office moving company—even if you don’t initially expect to need storage.
Having access to commercial storage gives you another option if the timing between locations doesn’t line up perfectly. It can also be useful when downsizing, renovating or moving into a space in stages.
The Ability to Handle Unusual or High-Value Items
Most offices have more than desks and chairs.
Depending on the business, a move could involve servers, electronics, artwork, sensitive equipment, machinery, laboratory equipment, retail fixtures or other high-value items.
Before choosing an office mover, consider everything your business owns, not just the obvious furniture. Ask how unusual, fragile or high-value items will be handled and whether the company has experience moving similar items.
What Happens to the Old Office After You Leave?
Businesses often spend so much time thinking about the new office that they forget about the old one.
Your lease agreement may require furniture to be removed, rooms to be cleared or the space to be left in a particular condition.
That can turn the final stage of an office move into another project entirely.
When planning your relocation, find out whether your moving company can assist with office decommissioning, furniture removal and recycling. Taking care of these requirements as part of the overall move can make handing the old space back to the landlord much easier.
Flexibility When Plans Change
Even the best-planned office move can encounter unexpected problems.
An elevator may become unavailable. Renovations may take longer than expected. Furniture may not fit where originally planned. Another contractor might fall behind schedule.
A great office moving company needs to be able to adapt.
Experience becomes particularly valuable when something doesn’t go according to plan. An experienced commercial moving team has likely dealt with similar problems before and can help find a practical solution without bringing the entire move to a halt.
Communication Matters More Than You Might Think
A successful office move involves a lot of people: management, employees, building managers, contractors, IT providers, furniture installers and movers.
Poor communication between any of these groups can cause delays.
Your moving company should communicate clearly about scheduling, responsibilities and expectations before the move begins. You should know who is responsible for what, when the movers will arrive and what your employees need to do in preparation.
Good communication may not be as visible as a fleet of moving trucks, but it can be one of the most important parts of a successful relocation.
Look Beyond the Moving Truck
Ultimately, a great office moving company isn’t simply a company that can transport desks and boxes from one building to another.
The best commercial movers understand that they are helping transition an operating business from one location to another.
That means considering the entire process: planning, coordination, building access, downtime, furniture installation, storage, specialized equipment and what happens to the old office when the move is finished.
At Redpath Relocations, office and commercial moving is one of our specialties. We work with businesses to develop a moving plan tailored to their specific requirements, whether they’re relocating a small office or coordinating a much larger commercial move.
Our commercial moving services include office moving, move coordination, furniture assembly and installation, commercial storage, inventory management, furniture removal and recycling, along with specialized moving services for more complex requirements.
If you’re planning an office relocation in Vancouver or the surrounding areas, contact Redpath Relocations to discuss your move and request a quote.