L11 Relocation checklist
An office move has dozens of small jobs, and most of the trouble on moving day comes from one that nobody owned. This office relocation checklist puts the jobs in order and says who usually does each one: the business, the removalist, the IT provider or the building. It is written for Adelaide offices, but the order works anywhere. Moveall for Business, the commercial service of Moveall Australia Pty Ltd, uses the same order to plan the moves it quotes.
Use it alongside office removalists in Adelaide, which explains how the move itself runs.
Office move checklist: as soon as the date is known
- Name one person in the business to run the move, and one deputy.
- Confirm the key dates: the end of the old lease, the handover of the new premises and when the fit-out finishes.
- Read the old lease for what must happen at the end of the tenancy: the key handover date and whether fixtures must be removed or the premises returned to a set condition.
- Agree what the business can spend on the move, and decide what it must not disrupt, such as a busy trading period or a client deadline.
- Send a brief to the removalist with both addresses, the number of workstations or staff and the timing. The brief on this site asks for exactly that.
- Book your IT provider and telecommunications provider for the move window, as early as you can.
Planning the move
For the business
- Get the new floor plan and give every desk, office and room a code.
- Decide who sits where, and give each person their desk code.
- Make the inventory: everything that moves, by area. Mark what stays, what is sold and what goes elsewhere.
- Decide what new furniture is needed and order it, with delivery dates that suit the fit-out.
- Ask the building manager at both ends for their move rules: dock and lift bookings, permitted times, insurance details they need and any protection for lifts and lobbies.
- Ask your accountant or adviser which registrations, licences and policies need the new address, and by when.
For the removalist
- Turn the brief and inventory into a written quote: what moves, the trucks and team, the move window and any extras.
- Check parking and loading arrangements with the building at both ends.
- Plan the stages: which floors or teams move first.
- Confirm extras in writing: packing, furniture assembly, hanging artwork, heavy or bulky items.
Why the inventory matters
Moveall’s terms tie a fixed-price quote to the inventory list, and extra items found on the day can cost extra. A complete inventory is the simplest way to keep the move to the price quoted.
A month or so before the move
- Accept the quote and confirm the move window with the removalist, the IT provider and both buildings.
- Book the loading dock and goods lift at both ends for the whole window.
- Tell staff the date, the new address, how to get there and what they must pack.
- Tell customers and suppliers the new address and the date to start using it; ask suppliers to hold deliveries over the move.
- Arrange mail redirection and tell your regular couriers.
- Order new signage, business cards and stationery with the new address.
- Start packing archives, storerooms and anything not used every day. Label every carton with its new room code.
- If the move needs a skip, container or elevated platform on a council road in the city, apply for the City of Adelaide City Works permit.
The week before
- Confirm every booking: removalist, IT, telecommunications, dock, lift, cleaners.
- Give the removalist the building contacts at both ends, with mobile numbers for the day.
- Have staff empty their pedestals, drawers and cabinets and pack the contents. Moveall’s terms ask for loose items to be in cartons and furniture emptied before it is moved.
- Label every desk, chair, pedestal, cabinet and monitor with its new desk code.
- Pack the kitchen, the print room and shared areas, and defrost the fridge if it is moving.
- Back up data. Your IT provider plans the shutdown and disconnection.
- Print the coded floor plan, one copy for the entry to each floor of the new office.
Ready to plan? Call Moveall for Business, or send a brief.
Moving day
- Your move lead and the building contacts are on site for the whole window.
- IT equipment is disconnected and ready, or your IT provider is there to do it.
- Corridors, lift lobbies and the path to the truck are clear. Moveall’s terms ask for clear, safe paths between the truck and the premises.
- Items that are staying are marked so they are not loaded.
- Floor plans are taped up at the new office.
- Your move lead checks each floor against the plan before sign-off.
The first days in the new office
- IT reconnects and tests desks, phones and printers before staff unpack.
- Staff unpack their own desks; shared areas are unpacked by the people who use them.
- Check the inventory: anything missing or out of place is raised straight away.
- Update your website, Google Business Profile, email signatures, invoices and quote templates.
- Hand back the old premises as the lease requires, and return keys and access cards.
- Collect a final list of anything still to fix in the new fit-out.
Questions to settle with each building
Both buildings, the one you are leaving and the one you are moving into, will have rules for a move. Ask each building manager, and put the answers in the brief:
- When may moves happen, and how far ahead must the dock and goods lift be booked?
- What size of truck does the dock take, and is there a height limit?
- Does the building need the removalist’s insurance details, and in what form?
- Does the building require protection for lifts, lobbies or floors?
- How will the removal team get in: passes, an escort, or a contact at the door?
- Who has the keys to the dock, the goods lift and the tenancy on the day?
In the Adelaide CBD, add the street to the list. Rundle Mall is closed to vehicles from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Thursday, 9:00 am to 9:15 pm on Friday and 9:00 am to 5:00 pm on Saturday and Sunday, and a skip, container or elevated platform on a council road or footpath needs a City Works permit.
Who does what
| Job | Usually done by |
|---|---|
| Floor plan, desk codes, seating | The business |
| Inventory | The business, with the removalist |
| Written quote, move plan, trucks and team | The removalist |
| Dock, lift and building rules | The building manager, with the removalist |
| Packing desks | Staff |
| Packing shared areas, archives, fragile items | Staff, or the removalist’s packing service |
| Disconnecting and reconnecting IT | Your IT provider |
| Phones and internet | Your telecommunications provider |
| Moving and placing furniture and cartons | The removalist |
| Telling customers and suppliers | The business |
Moveall’s Wrap & Pack service supplies boxes and packing materials and can do the packing; ask whether it suits your office. For the full list of what Moveall for Business takes on, see office relocation services in Adelaide. City moves have extra steps, covered on Adelaide CBD office moves.
Call Moveall for Business to talk through your office relocation.
Questions businesses ask
When should we start planning an office relocation?
As soon as the lease and fit-out dates are known. The dock, the lifts, your IT provider and the removalist all need booking, and the earlier they are booked, the more choice of dates you have.
What is the most forgotten thing in an office move?
Usually something nobody owned: the keys and access cards, the mail redirection, the building’s lift booking or the new address on invoices. Give every job on the checklist a name.
Should staff pack their own desks?
Usually, yes. Staff know what is theirs and what they need first. Shared areas, archives and fragile items can be packed by a packing service.
Planning an office move?