Plan a smooth office move with this timeline-based checklist, covering early decisions, budgeting, staff communication, packing, logistics, and moving-day tasks.

Office Move Checklist: A Timeline From the First Decision to Moving Day

How early should an office move checklist start? The honest answer is a range, and a wide one. SpareFoot tells businesses to begin three to six months ahead. Move.org opens its checklist at six months. Avigilon says at least six months for most companies and longer for large ones, and adds a handy trigger: start drafting the plan the day the relocation paperwork is signed. WeWork and Move Solutions both push the first planning phase out to six to twelve months before moving day.

So who is right? All of them, for different offices. A ten-person studio with one printer can run the whole thing in a quarter. A company with a server room, a leased floor it has to restore, and three departments that can't all go dark on the same Friday needs the longer runway. My rule of thumb: count the things that can only be done by someone outside your company (landlords, building managers, internet providers, furniture vendors, movers). The more of them, the earlier you start. The timeline below is built backwards from moving day, so you can drop in wherever your calendar currently stands.

Twelve to six months out: the decisions that cost money

Nothing in this window involves a box. It's paperwork, people and money, and it's where most of the expensive surprises are either caught or missed.

Read the lease you're leaving

Start with the office you're walking away from. Check the end date, the notice your landlord expects, and what early termination would cost. SpareFoot says to look for clauses on cleaning and repairs that must be finished before you vacate, and WeWork suggests planning how to return the old office to its original state. Either one can mean costs you never budgeted for. Move.org raises a sharper question. Are you responsible for property damage, chipped paint or a broken light fixture, including anything that happens during the move itself? Better to know now than at the final walkthrough.

Put one person in charge

An office relocation checklist without an owner turns into a shared document nobody opens. Avigilon recommends naming a moving coordinator, then building small teams around the tasks department heads identify, with an IT person on board to handle computer equipment. Move Solutions suggests pulling representatives from different departments into a committee. Whatever the size, keep the meetings regular. Avigilon's version is weekly or bi-weekly check-ins plus a shared calendar everyone can see.

Build a budget with the dull lines in it

The mover's quote is the obvious number. The rest is where budgets break. Pulling from Avigilon, SpareFoot and Unspot, the budget line of a realistic office move plan covers:

movers and packing supplies;
moving insurance or extra valuation coverage;
new signage;
rewiring computer and phone networks;
reconfiguring security systems;
replacing or repairing furniture;
downtime while the team can't work;
a reserve for the unexpected, which WeWork tells you to set aside from day one.

Coverage deserves a closer look. Move.org points out that the industry-standard coverage is $0.60 per pound, so a 50-pound desk that breaks would bring about $30. If one machine keeps your business running, that figure should make you ask about higher coverage.

Mark the dates you can't move

Quarter close, a product launch, open enrollment, the week your biggest client visits. Move Solutions puts identifying these business-critical dates into the first phase, together with buffer time for delays. It sounds obvious. It gets forgotten constantly.

Six to three months out: layout, technology and people

Around now people start asking where their desk will be and whether parking changes, and the IT side needs its own plan rather than a line item.

Draw the floor plan before you buy anything

Map where every desk, printer and meeting table will sit. Move.org, which puts this step at two months out, suggests marking the number and location of ethernet ports and power sockets so heavy pieces land in the right spot the first time. If specialized equipment takes months to build or ship, Move.org says to order it three to four months ahead; ordinary new furniture it schedules at two months.

The IT office relocation checklist inside the checklist

Most businesses can survive a missing chair on Monday. Not a dead network. Move Solutions frames this phase as a technology transition plan: schedule the disconnection and reconnection of servers, networks and equipment, plan for downtime, and consider redundancy while systems are offline. The pieces worth writing down:

phone and internet installation at the new address, booked early (Move.org places it at two months out);
a decision on whether your own IT staff can handle setup or you need outside help;
network, servers and desktops tested before the move, as Unspot advises;
security systems: Avigilon recommends installing door entry, intrusion detection and video systems in the new office before anyone moves in, and checking whether current badges will work or new fobs are needed;
utilities with an overlap between the old and new premises, again per Avigilon.

Tell the team, and tell them early

Here the published checklists disagree more than anywhere else. WeWork puts the employee announcement in the six-to-twelve-month planning phase and wants staff involved in designing the new space. Move.org schedules it at three to four months. Unspot's FAQ sets the bar at "at least 2 months prior." I'd lean early. People plan commutes, childcare and sometimes job searches around where the office is, and rumors travel faster than memos.

Three to one month out: book the movers and the building

Quotes can start much earlier. Move.org suggests comparing at least three companies at the six-month mark and locking in the date at three to four months, while WeWork files hiring under its three-to-six-month preparation phase and tells you to book early so your date is still open. Unspot's FAQ also says to set the date and hire the mover three to six months ahead, and Move Solutions goes earliest, choosing the moving partner in its six-to-twelve-month phase. By this window, at the latest, the choice should be made and the logistics confirmed. Move Solutions gives a list of questions worth asking any crew before you sign: are the movers employees or contracted labor, what property protection do they use, how do they handle disconnecting and reconnecting technology, and can they give references from similar businesses?

Your building matters as much as your mover. If you share it with other tenants, Move.org warns that you may need to reserve elevators and loading docks or arrange special access for the crew, and Move Solutions says to book freight elevators and docks at both addresses. WeWork adds one more step: walk the new office together with the movers before the day.

What does this look like in practice? SOS Moving, a moving company in Los Angeles, describes its commercial process this way: a dedicated project manager walks both sites, builds the inventory and turns it into a schedule department heads can plan around. Larger relocations run as a phased move across several weekends, one department or floor at a time, with crews typically starting on a Friday evening or Saturday morning so the office doesn't lose a working day. The company also books the freight-elevator slot with building management and issues the certificate of insurance the building asks for. Its FAQ notes that a local office move should be scheduled at least one to two weeks ahead, which is a useful reminder that booking the truck is the short part; the months of planning above are the long one. Those are fair points to compare when you interview office movers in Los Angeles or anywhere else.

The same window is for clearing out and spreading the word:

Inventory furniture, equipment and supplies, and decide what moves, what gets replaced and what goes (WeWork and SpareFoot both place this at one to three months).
Purge properly. Move Solutions lists shredding for old documents and secure e-waste disposal for outdated hardware.
Notify clients, vendors, suppliers and partners, with the new address and the date you'll be operating from it.
Update the website, bank records, Google and Yelp listings, and set up USPS mail forwarding.
Cancel services at the old office, such as cleaning, security and landscaping, so they end after you leave.

The last two to four weeks

WeWork calls packing the most time-consuming part of an office move, and it's hard to argue. The trick is labeling for the destination, not the source. A box marked "Accounting" is half useful; a box marked "Accounting, room 204, desk 6" goes straight where it belongs. WeWork and Move Solutions both recommend color codes by department.

Disassemble large furniture a few days before, and keep screws and brackets in labeled bags, as SpareFoot suggests.
Back up critical data. Move Solutions says to do it multiple times; Move.org puts the backup at two weeks out.
Order keys and access cards for the new office, and collect and deactivate the old ones the day before.
Inspect the new space about a week ahead. Move.org's examples: wires dangling from the ceiling, lights that don't work.
Write the moving-day plan: when the crew arrives, who lets them in, who stays on site, who locks up.
Pack a box of essentials (chargers, tools, snacks), a WeWork tip that saves more time than it sounds.

One judgment call: should employees pack their own desks? Move.org's view is that people handle their personal items, while company laptops, monitors and other IT equipment are better left to the IT department or the movers. That split seems right to me.

Moving day

Have a coordinator at each address, not just the old one.
Check items off the inventory as they're loaded and unloaded.
Carry sensitive documents and valuables yourself.
Set up essential workstations and the network first.
Walk the empty office, look for anything left behind, and document any damage.
Test phones, Wi-Fi and door access before staff arrive.

Still wondering?

How long does the physical move take?

Unspot gives a rough breakdown: one to three days for the move itself depending on scale, then one to two weeks of unpacking, organizing and testing IT systems. The same FAQ puts preparation at one to two months, although Unspot's own checklist starts six to twelve months out. Treat the shorter figure as the floor for a small office, not the norm.

Do we really need new access cards?

Often, yes. Avigilon suggests checking whether the new building's access control works with your existing credentials before assuming it will. Either way, Move.org recommends keeping a master list of every key, parking pass and card, so the old ones can be collected and deactivated.

Is it worth moving old furniture at all?

Sometimes not. WeWork suggests donating usable items to local charities, and SpareFoot notes that a lighter load makes the move faster and cheaper. If a piece is already on your replacement list, sell or donate it before moving day rather than paying to carry it across town.