If you are looking for a commercial mover know you should that an office move is a little different from a house move. House moves are for the most part about just shifting everything from one place to another. Office moves are for the most part about not losing a single workday, not wrecking the computers, and not revealing the entire contents of the not-quite-labeled storage closet to everyone on the first day of the week.
It’s been years since your business relocated, so there is a significant amount of catching up to do. Although you have a general understanding of who, what, where, when and how – aspects like bookings for lifts, IT cable storage, sensitive file safes and the loading dock (closes at 5pm) can be a bit of a stumbling block. That’s when most businesses turn to professional commercial movers rather than a handful of employees and a rental truck.
Why office moves go sideways more easily
The biggest difference is downtime. You can tolerate a little mess and disorder in your own home while getting set up but in an office the additional cost of every extra hour the team isn’t moving and functioning is huge. Many of Auckland’s office moves try to get everything done over a Friday afternoon and Saturday so you can be up and running on Monday. Provided the packing, loading, truck trip and simple unpacking at your new destination are all planned efficiently you can often get this way but if your old building lift is only available for two hours and the new building loading zone is full then it throws out the entire timetable.
Availability is another issue. Many Auckland offices are housed in high-rise buildings with tight regulations on when the goods lift can be used, where trucks are allowed to park and the closing time of the loading dock. Certain offices have security procedures in place for sensitive files or high-value equipment. And some offices have narrow hallways and doors, and long corridors that make the simple task of repositioning desks a slow, difficult operation. Experienced commercial crews already know how to check these things before the day, rather than discovering them when the truck is sitting outside.
IT equipment presents yet more complexity. All laptops, monitors, server equipment, and the mass of cables under every desk need to be carefully managed and labeled so they can be easily plugged back in without lengthy troubleshooting.
Filing cabinets chock full of papers, the whiteboards and the board room table that nobody wants to have a scratch on all require more attention than your average residential load.
What actually helps on the day
Office movers who do a lot of office moves generally think about it as a rational exercise rather than just a big pack-and-load. They want to know the size of the office, what sort of gear is involved, what the building policies are at each end, and whether you want the move to take place after-hours or over a weekend. This discussion often exposes the real limiting factors upfront – such as access to a service lift that needs to be booked in advance, or a new premises with access to power not until a certain time.
There’s undervaluing packing and labelling. Labelling all the boxes with destination department and contents makes unpacking at the other end much quicker. You might dismantle and reconstruct desks, bundle up monitors and cables so the IT guys don’t spend half a day finding the right plug, lock away sensitive paperwork in filing crates so they don’t get lost with the paper clips. Some firms only want help with the really big furniture and the truck. Others want the movers to do all the packing so their people can keep working until the very last second.
Timing is the second key enabler in the real world. Most of the operations would be best carried out outside the core trading hours of the office so that it can stay open longer and start opening earlier. Paid for at a premium, off-hours and weekends work is not cheap, but most companies would be 1 day and a whole lot more trading down if they don’t synchronize the timings. Best commercial teams will time the window to coincide with the building access window.
A few things that reduce the friction
Begin before the time it’s obvious that you must. Even a tiny office you need to understand lift booking, the state of the loading zone, and if the new premises require any fit-out work before you can move in. Larger offices usually need a couple of months so IT, facilities, and the movers can all work from the same timeline.
If you get a quote and there’s anything out of the ordinary, tell us. Server racks, lab gear, double-file filing cupboards, or a boardroom table that snugs tight against the door – anything that impacts lifting times or equipment required will impact the estimate. As with access to either building. If you have a quote based on “a normal office” it’ll likely change after the crew arrive.
Label them department first, contents second. This seems as if it should be a no-brainer, but it’ll save you hours of double-checking when unpacking. Back up files before they’re unplugged, test drive the new location’s internet and phones before the desks show up, and check the lease for any make-good requirements at the old premises–those often get forgotten until the last week.
Many businesses that attempt to manage an office relocation independently will eventually confess that if you factor in the time lost and minor damages, the real cost was the lost time and the small damages rather than the money they saved on the truck. Coordinating the boxing, labelling, lift/elevator and the timing for after hours by individuals who frequently do business relocations really helps the first day to go a lot more smoothly.
If you’re considering moving an office, retail shop or other commercial property around Auckland it’s wise to ask for a clear quote from a team familiar with the city’s building regulations and if out of hours work is needed. CityMove handles office and business moves of different sizes, including packing, labelling, and setup so the new place is usable quickly. For more information, view their commercial page or simply phone for a free quote- most companies find it easier than trying to juggle employees, a truck and a pair of building managers.
