Office Relocation

How Far in Advance Should You Plan an Office Relocation in NYC?

When it comes to planning an office relocation, one rule almost always applies: it is never too early to start planning.

An office move involves much more than transporting desks, chairs, computers and boxes from one location to another. Your company’s day-to-day operations, building requirements, freight elevator availability, furniture, IT infrastructure, employees, vendors and move schedule all need to work together.

With nearly 40 years of experience planning and executing commercial relocations throughout the New York and New Jersey markets, BRS has seen firsthand how much proper planning can affect the success of an office move.

That is especially true in New York City, where building access, freight elevator schedules, loading restrictions, certificates of insurance and other property requirements can have a major impact on when and how a move can take place.

The more time you give yourself to plan, the more opportunities you have to identify potential problems before they become expensive or disruptive problems on a moving day.

As a general guideline, BRS recommends beginning the planning process at least:

These are not hard rules. Every office relocation is different, and factors such as building restrictions, furniture requirements, IT infrastructure, storage needs, specialty equipment and move phasing can all affect the timeline.

The important point is simple: the larger and more complicated the relocation, the earlier the planning process should begin.

Why Should You Start Planning an Office Move So Early?

It is easy to think of an office relocation in terms of the actual move date. In reality, moving day is only one part of the project.

There may be dozens of decisions and logistical issues that need to be addressed before the first truck arrives. Some are within your company’s control. Others are not.

For example, your company may have a preferred move date only to discover that another tenant has already reserved the building’s freight elevator for that day. This can be especially problematic in busy NYC commercial buildings where multiple tenants may be relocating, renovating or receiving large deliveries during the same period.

Your new space may be ready, but the space plan may not have been thought through carefully enough. Furniture may still need to be installed. IT may need additional time to reconfigure equipment. Building management may have insurance, loading dock, security or access requirements that need to be completed before work can begin.

Starting early gives your company, your moving team and the other vendors involved more time to identify and coordinate these issues.

12 Months Before Your Office Relocation

For larger relocations, particularly offices of approximately 10,000 square feet or 250 employees or more, BRS recommends beginning the planning process at least one year in advance whenever possible.

At this stage, not every detail needs to be finalized. The goal is to establish the overall scope of the project and begin identifying potential complications.

This is a good time to:

• Establish a target move date.
• Identify the internal team responsible for managing the relocation.
• Begin evaluating what will and will not be moving to the new location.
• Review the proposed layout of the new space.
• Determine whether existing furniture will be reused, reconfigured, stored or disposed of.
• Identify new furniture that may need to be installed.
• Begin evaluating IT, telecom and equipment requirements.
• Identify storage or warehousing needs.
• Determine whether the move may need to take place in phases.
• Begin discussions with an experienced commercial moving company.

Involving a mover early can be especially valuable on larger projects. Walkthroughs of the current and future locations may uncover logistical issues that are not obvious to someone who does not manage office relocations every day.

In NYC, something as simple as freight elevator access, loading availability or a building’s approved working hours can significantly affect the move plan. Discovering those restrictions early gives the project team time to work around them.

6 Months Before Your Office Relocation

For an office of approximately 5,000 square feet or around 100 employees, six months is a good minimum planning window.

For larger moves that began planning earlier, this is when the project should start becoming much more detailed.

The moving company can conduct walkthroughs, develop the scope of work and begin determining how the relocation will actually take place.

Space planning becomes increasingly important. Where is each department going? Which employees are moving to which workstations? What furniture is being reused? What furniture needs to be disassembled, relocated and reinstalled? What needs to be removed from the existing office entirely?

This is also the time to begin developing the move sequence.

Some companies can relocate in a single move. Others may need to move department by department or complete the project in phases so that normal business operations can continue throughout the transition.

Building coordination should also be well underway. Each property can have its own requirements regarding freight elevators, loading areas, working hours, insurance, security and vendor access.

For companies moving between NYC office buildings, those requirements should be reviewed at both the origin and destination. The earlier they are identified, the easier it is to build them into the overall relocation plan.

3 Months Before Your Office Relocation

For smaller offices of approximately 2,500 square feet or 50 employees or fewer, BRS recommends beginning the planning process at least three months before the move.

For larger projects, the final execution plan should already be taking shape by this point.

The move schedule, space plan, departmental sequencing and labeling system should all be becoming finalized.

The moving company should have a clear understanding of what is moving, where each item is going and how the relocation will be sequenced.

Furniture installation and reconfiguration requirements should be confirmed. Storage needs should be addressed. IT responsibilities should be clearly assigned. Certificates of insurance and other building requirements should be coordinated.

Employees should also begin receiving clear instructions about what they are responsible for packing, what will be handled by the mover and how items will be labeled for their destination.

A well-planned labeling system may seem like a small detail, but on a large office relocation it can make an enormous difference. Movers need to know exactly where hundreds or even thousands of individual items belong when they reach the destination.

For a more detailed look at the steps involved in preparing for a relocation, check out our comprehensive office move planning checklist.

30 Days Before the Move

With approximately one month remaining, the major planning decisions should already have been made.

The focus now turns toward confirming details.

Final floor plans should be available. Workstations and offices should have destination assignments. Packing materials should be distributed. Employees should understand their responsibilities.

Building access, freight elevators and loading areas should all be reconfirmed.

The moving team, IT team, furniture installers, building management and any other vendors involved should be working from the same schedule.

This is also a good time for another walkthrough to identify anything that may have changed since the original survey.

Office relocations rarely remain completely static. Departments change, furniture gets added or removed, construction schedules shift and companies make last-minute decisions.

The goal is to identify those changes before moving day rather than discovering them once the moving crew is already on site.

One Week Before the Move

One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is assuming that something is confirmed simply because it was discussed several months earlier.

During the final week, the important logistics should be reconfirmed.

That includes:

• Freight elevator reservations.
• Loading dock or loading area access.
• Building hours.
• Security and access procedures.
• Certificates of insurance.
• Employee packing instructions.
• IT sequencing.
• Furniture installation requirements.
• Labeling.
• Vendor schedules.
• Key contacts at both the origin and destination locations.

At this point, there should be very few surprises left.

What Happens When an Office Move Is Planned Too Late?

A compressed schedule does not automatically mean an office relocation will fail, but it leaves much less room to solve problems.

One issue BRS has encountered is freight elevator availability. A company may determine its preferred move date only to find that another tenant has already reserved the elevator.

In an NYC office building, that can create a serious scheduling problem. The company may need to change dates, adjust the move schedule or work with building management to find another solution.

Another common issue is poor coordination between the physical move and the layout of the new space.

If the space plan has not been thoroughly considered, furniture, equipment and boxes can arrive at the destination without a clear plan for where everything belongs. Employees may arrive to find that workstations are not ready, IT equipment is not properly coordinated, or furniture has to be moved again after it has already been placed.

That creates unnecessary work and can turn what should have been an organized transition into a sloppy one.

Good relocation planning is largely about eliminating those surprises before moving day.

What Can a Commercial Moving Company Help Plan?

A commercial moving company should be able to contribute much more than trucks and labor.

Depending on the project, BRS can assist with:

• Walkthroughs and site surveys.
• Space planning.
• Move sequencing.
• Labeling systems.
• Building coordination.
• Relocation consulting.
• IT moves and reconfigurations.
• Certificates of insurance.
• Furniture installation and reconfiguration.
• Storage and warehousing.
• Project logistics.

Getting the moving company involved early also creates an opportunity to identify potential problems while there is still time to solve them.

This becomes increasingly important as the size and complexity of the relocation grows.

We’re Moving in Less Than 90 Days. Is It Too Late?

Not necessarily.

Office relocations can sometimes be planned and completed on compressed timelines. Whether that is realistic depends on the size of the move, building availability, furniture requirements, IT needs, storage, equipment and other project-specific factors.

The important thing is to begin planning immediately rather than losing additional time.

An experienced commercial mover can review the origin and destination locations, target move date and project scope to help determine what needs to happen first and which issues could become obstacles.

If your NYC office move is less than 90 days away, contact BRS to discuss your relocation and determine whether your timeline is realistic.

How Far in Advance Should You Hire an Office Moving Company?

You do not need to have every aspect of the project finalized before speaking with a commercial mover.

In fact, involving a mover during the planning process can be beneficial because early walkthroughs and discussions may identify logistical issues that have not yet been considered.

For larger office relocations, speaking with a moving company well before the actual move date gives everyone involved more time to properly plan the project.

Can an Office Move Be Completed Over a Weekend?

Many office relocations are scheduled during nights, weekends or other periods designed to minimize disruption to normal business operations.

Whether a particular move can be completed within one weekend depends on the size of the office, the volume of furniture and equipment, building access, the number of crews available, IT requirements and whether the relocation needs to take place in phases.

This is particularly important in New York City, where individual buildings may restrict the hours during which commercial moves can take place.

The move schedule should be developed around the company’s operational needs and the requirements of the buildings involved rather than assuming every relocation can follow the same format.

When Should IT Get Involved in an Office Relocation?

IT planning should begin early.

Technology is often one of the most important parts of getting employees operational in the new location. Computers, servers, phones, networking equipment, conference room technology and other systems may need to be disconnected, transported and reconfigured in a specific order.

The physical move and the IT plan should therefore be coordinated rather than treated as two completely separate projects.

Planning an Upcoming NYC Office Relocation?

The safest approach to an office relocation is simple: start earlier than you think you need to.

Additional planning time gives your company the opportunity to properly coordinate the people, buildings, furniture, technology and vendors involved while there is still time to adjust the plan.

Whether your relocation is three months away or more than a year away, Business Relocation Services can help evaluate the scope of the project and develop a plan for getting your organization from its current space into the new one with as little disruption as possible.

About BRS

Business Relocation Services has nearly 40 years of experience helping organizations throughout the New York and New Jersey markets plan and execute commercial relocations. BRS provides move planning and consulting, furniture installation and reconfiguration, IT relocation, storage and warehousing, and project logistics.

Planning an upcoming commercial relocation? Request a quote from BRS to start discussing your move.