Office moving checklist
Office Moving Checklist: A Step-by-Step Timeline
An office moving checklist in the order that actually prevents rework — building requirements and IT planning first, packing last. Scale the timeline to your company size; the order stays the same.
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Short answer: Start with building requirements (COI, freight elevator) and IT planning, then inventory and vendor selection, then employee communication, and pack last. Confirming building rules and IT cutover sequencing early prevents the most common causes of a delayed or over-budget move.
This checklist is ordered around the sequence that produces the least rework, not a fixed calendar. Timelines scale with company size — see our timeline by company size guide — but the order below applies regardless of scale.
First
Building requirements and IT planning
- Get exact dimensions and a floor plan of the new space
- Confirm both buildings' insurance requirements (Certificate of Insurance limits, additional-insured wording) — see our COI guide
- Confirm freight elevator and loading dock reservation lead time at both buildings — see our building rules guide
- Start IT inventory and network cutover planning — see our IT relocation planning guide
- Get 2-3 written estimates from commercial movers — see how to vet one
Next
Inventory and vendor selection
- Inventory everything, tagged: moving, decommissioning, liquidating/donating — see our furniture disposition guide
- Confirm the mover's IOMI training/certification and FMCSA authority if interstate — see what IOMI certification means
- Decide business-hours vs. after-hours scheduling based on downtime tolerance — see our after-hours moving service page
- If the old space has a lease restoration obligation, get the schedule of condition and start planning decommissioning — see our lease-end obligations guide
Then
Employee communication
- Send the initial move announcement — see our employee communication plan guide
- Distribute a logistics FAQ covering commute, parking, desk assignment, and IT access — see our announcement FAQ template
- Confirm final moving-company details in writing — date, crew size, insurance coverage
Last
Pack and execute
- Label everything by department/destination in the new floor plan, not the old one
- Confirm the network cutover sequence and rollback plan one final time before IT equipment moves
- Confirm move-day logistics with everyone involved: mover, IT, building management at both ends
Move day
Have one person whose only job is coordinating the crew and building access, so nobody is managing logistics and their own department's move on the same day.
After the move
The first week in the new space
- Confirm all network and phone access is fully functional, not just partially restored
- Follow up on any pending furniture liquidation or donation paperwork
- Complete any remaining decommissioning work at the old space against the lease's restoration deadline
- Collect feedback from department leads on what worked and what didn't, while it's still fresh
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should an office moving checklist start?
8-12 weeks for a mid-size company is a reasonable default — 4-6 weeks for a small office, 3-6 months for enterprise-scale. See our office move timeline by company size guide for the breakdown.
What's the single most commonly missed step?
Confirming the new building's Certificate of Insurance requirements early. Companies routinely assume their mover's standard insurance is sufficient, then find out during move week that the building requires a specific limit or additional-insured endorsement the mover needs lead time to produce.
Should IT planning start at the same time as everything else?
Earlier, if anything. IT relocation planning — inventory, cutover sequencing, rollback plan — needs its own timeline separate from general moving logistics, since network downtime is usually the biggest driver of lost productivity during a move.
Published 2026-09-06.