The Complete Office Relocation Checklist
An office relocation is not finished when the last box arrives. People need working desks, reliable technology, somewhere to meet and a clear idea of what happens on their first day. This office relocation checklist takes an Irish business from the first planning decisions through to the old-office handover. Use it to assign tasks and check progress, adjusting the order and lead times to suit the size of your move and the condition of the new premises.
Key Takeaways
- Give one person ownership of the move, with named leads for property, IT, people and the new workspace.
- Confirm what the new premises provide before fixing a move date or ordering furniture.
- Plan the fit-out, technology installation and physical move as connected projects with separate responsibilities.
- Tell staff, clients and suppliers what will change well before the first day in the new office.
- Keep time after move day for testing, snagging, feedback and handing back the old space.
Channel Mechanic’s new headquarters in Ballybrit Business Park provides Channel Mechanics with a modern, functional workspace that supports their continued growth and success.
1. Set the Brief, Budget and Owners
Start by agreeing why the business is relocating. More desks might not be the whole answer; the team may need quieter call space, better meeting facilities, better canteen and breakout areas or a location that works for clients. Record what the current office does well and where people have created workarounds. That gives the project a useful test for later decisions. The principles of office space planning can help turn those observations into a brief.
- Appoint an office relocation lead. Give that person authority to maintain the schedule, chase decisions and keep one current version of the checklist.
- Name the other owners. Property, IT, HR, finance, facilities and the person approving the new-office design may all have different tasks.
- List what is moving. Record furniture, equipment, files and specialist items. Decide what will be reused, replaced, stored or responsibly disposed of.
- Set a complete budget. Include design and fit-out, furniture, technology, removals, downtime, old-site obligations and a sensible contingency. iGate’s guide to office fit-out costs is useful for the workspace portion of that budget.
- Mark the dependencies. The lease, building access, fit-out approvals, internet connection and furniture delivery can each affect the date people can actually work there.
Build the schedule backwards from a realistic first working day, not simply the day keys become available. The move lead should keep a list of decisions, owners and deadlines rather than relying on a long email thread.
iGate Interiors helped H+K International plan for different ways of working, including workstations and meeting pods so the new headquarters supported teamwork and private conversations.
2. Check the New Office Before Committing
A promising floor plan does not tell you what the premises will be like on handover. Confirm the actual condition, available services and responsibilities with the landlord or property team. A space described as Cat A may still need substantial work before it suits your team. Do not assume lighting, partitions, furniture or data connections are included because they appeared during a viewing.
- Walk the premises with the people responsible for the fit-out and IT. Check dimensions, power and data points, entrances, lifts, loading access and any fixed features that affect the layout.
- Confirm which works require landlord consent, who will arrange them and when access for surveys and installation begins.
- Ask who is responsible for testing, documentation and handover of the existing building systems. Record anything that needs further professional review.
Access and handover checks
- Check how deliveries, contractors and removals will enter the building, including any booking or out-of-hours arrangements.
- Review the current office agreement too. Record what must be removed, repaired or returned before that space is handed back.
Keep assumptions visible. If the internet provider, landlord and fit-out team each think someone else is arranging a connection or approval, the gap may not become obvious until it is expensive to fix.
3. Design and Prepare the Workspace
The new office should be ready for the way people work, not merely big enough to hold their existing desks. Agree a plan before ordering furniture or committing to installation dates. 2D and 3D office design can help teams check room sizes, routes, furniture and shared facilities together.
Workstations and attendance
- Confirm expected attendance, team adjacencies and whether desks will be assigned or shared. If attendance varies, use actual working patterns rather than a simple headcount; the guide to hybrid office design explores the choices.
Meetings, privacy and circulation
- Count simultaneous meetings and calls. Decide which need enclosed rooms, informal space or meeting booths, and allow for power, screens and ventilation as appropriate to the chosen products.
- Check how people will move between desks, meeting rooms, reception and shared facilities. Leave room for chairs, doors and storage to be used, not only for furniture to fit on a drawing.
Acoustics and breakout areas
- Walk through the proposed open areas with noise in mind. Hard surfaces and closely grouped conversations may call for changes to the layout or suitable acoustic panels. Choose any treatment for the actual space rather than assuming one product will solve every noise issue.
- Plan the canteen and breakout areas around likely use, seating, storage, appliances and cleaning. These spaces should not be leftovers after the desk count is settled.
Furniture and everyday comfort
- Plan reception and informal meeting areas around appropriate furniture. Soft seating can be useful there, but measure it in the layout and choose finishes suited to daily wear.
- Confirm lighting, heating, cooling and the location of printers, lockers and other shared equipment with the people who will use them.
Before sign-off, compare the proposal with your inventory. Existing furniture may be reusable, but only if its dimensions, condition and connections suit the new plan. Photograph and measure items that the design team has not seen in person.
4. Coordinate the Business Move
A workplace can look finished while the business is not ready to operate from it. Keep a separate office relocation plan for people, technology, suppliers and communications. The fit-out partner, removals company and IT provider should each know their scope and handover point; do not assume one has taken responsibility for another’s work.
Removals and technology
- Book the practical services. Confirm removals, packing materials, waste collection, cleaning and any storage needed between leaving one space and entering the next.
- Protect critical technology. Ask IT to plan connectivity, equipment inventory, backups, secure transport, reconnection and testing. Identify the systems the business needs on its first morning.
People, addresses and suppliers
- Prepare an address-change list. Include clients, suppliers, deliveries, insurance and banking contacts, website and directory listings, and any business records that need updating. Have the relevant advisers check formal requirements where necessary.
- Tell staff what to expect. Share the office relocation date, travel and access information, packing instructions, desk arrangements and the person to contact when something goes wrong.
- Agree supplier dates. Furniture, signs and specialist products should arrive in a sequence that allows safe installation and final checks before removals begin.
Keep the communications specific. “We are moving next month” is less helpful than explaining when each team packs, what stays behind and where they should report on the first day.
5. Make the Final Checks and Manage Move Day
Before people start packing, walk through the new office against the approved plan. Check that furniture and equipment are in the right locations, including soft seating in reception or informal areas. Confirm that rooms can be used and outstanding work has an owner. Even if stakeholders reviewed virtual reality office previews before installation, the final walk-through must still happen in the real building.
- Label crates and equipment with their destination room or desk area. Keep an inventory of valuable or business-critical items.
- Confirm loading slots, lift bookings, access cards, keys, parking and a contact number for each supplier on move day.
- Back up data and agree how devices and confidential records will be packed, transported and accounted for.
- Check that utilities, connectivity, phones, meeting-room technology and essential equipment have been tested, or record a clear fallback plan.
- Give the move-day team a floor plan and a short list of priorities. Decide who can approve a change if something cannot go where planned.
On the day, keep routes clear and deal with exceptions in one place. A missing chair, unlabelled box or locked room should go onto a shared issue list with an owner, rather than disappearing into individual messages. Protect time for IT and facilities to test the essentials before staff arrive.
6. Settle In and Close Out Both Offices
The first working day is a test, not the end of the project. Ask staff to report issues through one channel and separate urgent faults from minor improvements. Check connectivity, calls, meeting rooms, printing, lighting, access and shared facilities in normal use. Keep a snag list with owners and agreed follow-up dates.
- Walk the office with team leads after people have used it. Note bottlenecks, noisy areas, furniture that does not fit the task and supplies stored in the wrong place.
- Confirm that address changes and supplier instructions have taken effect, particularly for deliveries and visitors.
- Complete the old-office clean-out and handover according to the agreement for that space. Record what was returned and any remaining actions.
- Review the office relocation budget and close outstanding orders, invoices and decisions.
The most useful office relocation checklist is one the team can actually follow. Give tasks owners, keep the dependencies visible and leave time to resolve what only becomes apparent once people move in. Where the new premises need design and building work, iGate Interiors can help coordinate the workspace side through its commercial office fit-out service.
Office Relocation FAQs
How far in advance should an office move be planned?
Start as soon as the need to move is clear. The lead time depends on the premises, required fit-out, approvals, technology and supplier availability. Confirm those dependencies before announcing a firm first working day.
Who should manage an office relocation?
One internal office relocation lead should maintain the overall schedule and decisions, with named owners for property, IT, people and the new workspace. External providers can manage their agreed work, but the business still needs someone coordinating the handovers between them.
What should be checked before staff arrive?
Test the essentials for a normal working day: access, desks, connectivity, phones, meeting rooms and shared facilities. Record unresolved issues, their owners and any temporary arrangement staff need to know about.
Presidio’s move brought two offices together. iGate Interiors coordinated furniture transfers and reupholstery, showing how planning what to reuse can reduce waste during an office relocation.
