Bay Area Office Move Checklist: A Week-by-Week Plan

The Short Version

An office move checklist is really a list of handoffs. The movers, your IT team, both property managers, and your employees each own a piece. The move goes smoothly when every piece has a name next to it and a date it is due.

We are JH Moving, a licensed Bay Area mover based in Richmond (Cal-T201700). Our office relocation service moves desks, files, and equipment for businesses across the East Bay and San Francisco. This guide is the planning side. It works whether you hire us, hire someone else, or move a five-person office yourself.

Here is the order that matters most:

1. Read your lease and get both buildings' move rules in writing.
2. Book the long lead items: internet at the new office, your IT vendor, and the movers.
3. Build a numbered floor plan for the new space.
4. Decide what is not moving.
5. Pack, label, and move on a weekend or after hours.
6. Fix the small stuff in the first week.

Small offices of 5 to 15 people can squeeze this into a few weeks. Bigger offices, server rooms, and multi-floor moves need the full 3 months. If you are short on time, do the steps in the same order and move faster.

Who Owns What

Before you build a timeline, assign owners. Every task below has a home in this table.

The move lead is the most important role. Give that person the authority to make small calls without a meeting, and the time to do the job.

The Office Move Checklist, Step by Step

3 Months Out

• Read your current lease. Find the notice deadline, the move-out condition rules, and anything about removing cabling, signs, or fixtures you added. Note your security deposit terms.
• Confirm your new lease dates. Try to get a few days of overlap so you are not moving out and in on the same day under pressure.
• Ask both property managers for their move rules in writing. You want the Certificate of Insurance (COI) requirements, freight elevator rules, allowed move hours, and loading dock details. More on this below.
• Order internet and phone service for the new office. Commercial installs often take weeks. This is one of the longest lead items on the list.
• Name your move lead and IT owner. If you use an outside IT provider, get them on the calendar now.
• Set a working budget. See the budget section below.
• Get mover estimates. For any office over about 10 people, ask for an on-site walkthrough instead of a phone quote.

6 to 8 Weeks Out

• Book your movers and your date. Weekends fill first for office work, since most businesses want one.
• Build the new floor plan. Number every workstation, name every room, and mark department zones. This one document drives the labeling, the seating chart, and where the crew puts things.
• Walk the new space with your IT owner. Plan network drops, Wi-Fi, printers, and any server or network closet.
• Inventory your furniture. Mark each piece as moving, staying, sold, donated, or hauled away.
• Book specialty vendors. That means an AV or low-voltage installer for wall-mounted screens, a furniture installer if your mover says your cubicle system needs one, and a shredding company if you are purging old paper.
• Send the movers both buildings' COI requirements. The COI often has to be approved before the building will book your elevator time.
• Tell your employees. Share the new address, the rough date, and what will be asked of them.

4 Weeks Out

• Lock the seating chart and share it with every employee and the movers.
• Reserve the freight elevator and loading dock at both buildings, for the exact hours of your move.
• Check street parking for the truck. If either address has no reservable dock, find out which city permit you need.
• Start the address change list. Banks, insurance, payroll, clients, vendors, your website, your Google Business Profile, business cards, and state and city registrations.
• Order packing supplies or confirm the packing crew's date.
• Plan the purge. Old files you no longer need to keep, dead electronics, and broken chairs should not ride on the truck.

2 Weeks Out

• Pack the low-use areas first. Storage rooms, archive files, extra supplies, and rarely used conference rooms.
• Send packing instructions to employees. How many boxes each, how to label them, and the deadline.
• Confirm the IT plan in writing. Who disconnects, when, and who reconnects, when.
• Confirm the COI is approved at both buildings. Do not assume. Ask.
• Confirm after-hours access. Who opens the building, who meets the crew, and whether the building charges for a security guard or engineer on site.
• Schedule wall-mount removal for the week of the move.

The Week of the Move

• Employees take personal items home and pack their desks.
• AV vendor takes down TVs, whiteboards, and monitor arms.
• Post the floor plan at the new office, with a numbered placard at every workstation and a sign on every room door.
• Empty and defrost the break room fridge a day or two before.
• Set aside anything that travels with a person. Checks, cash, legal originals, keys, and the company laptop with your backups should not go on a truck.
• Call each vendor to reconfirm the time and the contact on site.

Move Weekend

• Last business day, end of day: IT disconnects. Cables go in bags labeled with the workstation number.
• Crew arrives: walk the space with the crew lead. Point out what is not moving and anything fragile or high-value.
• Loading: protect floors and elevators, wrap furniture, load by zone.
• New office: furniture and boxes go to the numbered spots on the floor plan.
• IT reconnects and tests every workstation, printer, and phone.
• Move lead does a final walk of the old office before the keys go back.

The First Week After

• Monday morning: have the move lead and IT on the floor early to fix small problems fast.
• Keep a single issue list. Missing items, broken chairs, a dead network port. Work it down daily.
• Check box counts against what left the old office.
• Return the old space in the condition your lease asks for, and schedule the final walk-through with the landlord.
• Finish address changes and update anything you missed.
• Note any damage in writing to the mover right away, with photos.

Lease and Building Coordination

Your Lease

Your lease can cost you more than the move. Check three things early. First, the notice deadline to leave or not renew. Second, the move-out condition, which may include patching walls or removing cabling you installed. Third, any holdover terms if you stay past your end date. If you can, overlap the old and new leases by a few days. That gives you room to fix mistakes before you hand back the keys.

Certificates of Insurance

Most commercial buildings in the Bay Area will not let a mover in without a Certificate of Insurance on file. The COI is a one-page document from the mover's insurance company. It proves the mover has coverage and names the building's owner and management company on the policy.

Each building has its own rules. Ask the property manager for:

• The coverage limits they require
• The exact names to list as additional insureds
• The exact certificate holder name and address
• Any special policy wording they need
• How far ahead they need it

Send all of that to your mover in one email. A COI with one wrong name gets rejected, and a building that has not approved the COI often will not book your freight elevator. We issue the COI to match the building's specs and send it to property management, usually within 24 hours. Remember that both buildings may need one.

Freight Elevators, Docks, and Move Hours

Office towers and many mid-rise buildings in downtown Oakland, San Francisco, and Walnut Creek route all moves through the loading dock and freight elevator. Common rules include:

• Reservations. You book a set window. If the move runs past it, the next reservation may take the elevator.
• Move hours. Many buildings only allow moves after business hours or on weekends.
• Floor and wall protection. Buildings often require padding in the elevator and runners in the halls.
• Dock limits. Some docks have height limits or only one bay.
• Staff on site. After-hours moves may need a building guard or engineer present, and some buildings bill the tenant for that time.

Get each of these in writing for both buildings, then share the details with your mover. When we run the move, we coordinate the elevator and dock times with the property manager.

Street Parking for the Truck

If the truck has to park on the street, you may need a city permit. In both cities below, your company applies in its own name. We tell you at booking which permit you need, for which address, and the deadline.

• San Francisco: the SFMTA issues temporary no-parking signs for moves. Apply at least 5 business days before the date. Signs go up at least 72 hours ahead on unmetered streets and 24 hours ahead on metered blocks. SFMTA moving requests must run between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., so a late-night move in SF should plan to use a dock or finish loading the street side by 10 p.m.
• Oakland: OakDOT's Obstruction Permit covers blocking curb space, a sidewalk, or a lane. No Parking signs must be posted 72 hours ahead.

Other cities have their own rules. Call the city's public works or transportation office if you are unsure.

IT and Network: Movers vs. Your IT Vendor

This is the line that causes the most Monday-morning trouble. Draw it in writing before you book anything.

Your IT owner handles:

• Internet, phones, and Wi-Fi at the new office, installed and tested before move day
• Backups before anything is unplugged
• Shutting down and starting up servers
• Unplugging and labeling cables at each workstation
• Reconnecting, testing, and fixing anything that will not connect

Movers handle:

• Packing monitors, computers, printers, and network gear with anti-static wrap and padding
• Moving it safely
• Placing each piece on the right desk, using the floor plan numbers

We do not unplug or reconnect equipment, start or stop servers, or touch your network or data. No moving crew should. If a mover offers to "handle IT," ask exactly what that means.

The handoff is simple when it is planned. IT bags and labels the cables for workstation 14. The monitor, computer, and desk for workstation 14 carry the same number. The crew puts all of it at spot 14 in the new office. IT plugs it in. If you have no IT staff, book an outside IT provider for both the disconnect and reconnect windows now, not the week before.

Packing and Labeling System

A good labeling system means the crew never has to ask where something goes. Here is one that works:

1. Number the new floor plan. Every desk gets a number. Every room gets a name.
2. Label by destination, not source. "Desk 14" or "Conference Room B" tells the crew where to set it down. You can add the old location in small print if it helps your team unpack.
3. Color-code by zone or floor. One color per department or floor speeds up the unload.
4. Label two sides of every box, not the top. Tops get covered when boxes stack.
5. Mark contents in plain words. "Files," "Electronics," "Kitchen."
6. Use a separate label for "Open First." Each department gets one or two boxes with what they need Monday morning.
7. Count boxes by destination before they leave, and again at the new office.

Files should stay in cabinet order so they reload the same way. Legal and medical records with chain-of-custody rules need a records company that documents every handoff. A general mover, including us, does not do that.

If you would rather not have your team pack at all, our office packing crews pack and label files, equipment, and break room items to your floor plan. For a 20-person office, packing alone usually takes 8 to 12 hours with a 4-person crew.

Furniture, Cubicles, and What Stays Behind

Measure before you move. Big conference tables, L-shaped desks, and filing cabinets have to fit through doors, elevators, and the new layout.

• Standard desks and tables. Many need to come apart to move safely. Our crew takes apart and puts back standard furniture as part of the move. Our furniture disassembly and assembly service bags and labels the hardware for each piece.
• Panel cubicle systems. Some modular systems with built-in wiring and panel connections need a commercial furniture installer, and many don't. We check your system at the walkthrough and tell you whether our crew can take it apart and rebuild it. If it needs an installer, plan their teardown and setup times around your move.
• Filing cabinets. Ask your mover whether to empty them. Full cabinets are heavy and can bend.
• What stays behind. Decide early. Furniture you leave for the landlord or next tenant should be marked clearly. Furniture you donate needs a pickup date. Everything else needs a haul-away plan, so it does not end up on the truck by mistake.

If the new office is not ready on your move-out date, short-term storage can bridge the gap. Ask about it at the estimate so the plan includes both trips.

Telling Your Employees

People take a move better when they hear about it early. A simple plan:

• As soon as the date is likely: new address, rough date, why you are moving, and what it means for commutes.
• 4 weeks out: seating chart, parking and transit options, building access cards.
• 2 weeks out: packing instructions, box counts, labeling rules, and deadlines.
• The week of: last day in the old office, when IT disconnects, what to take home, and where to go Monday.
• The first day: a short welcome note with Wi-Fi details, the issue list contact, and where the coffee is.

Ask department leads to answer their team's questions. It keeps the move lead from drowning in email.

After-Hours and Weekend Moves

Most offices move outside business hours so nobody loses a workday. Here is how to plan it:

• Check building hours first. Some buildings require after-hours moves. Book the window early.
• Match IT to the move. The disconnect happens after close of business. The reconnect needs IT on site once the furniture is placed, often Sunday.
• Split big jobs. Pack on a weeknight evening, move on Saturday, set up on Sunday.
• Plan for the street. In San Francisco, street-sign permits for moves only run from 7 a.m. to 10 p.m.

Our weeknight crews start at 6 PM, and we work any time on Saturday and Sunday. For offices over about 30 people, consider a phased move across two or three weekends instead of one big push. The office relocation page explains how we set up phased moves.

Budget Items to Plan For

The movers are only one line. A real office move budget includes:

• Movers. Our rates are $150 per hour for 2 movers, $200 for 3, and $250 for 4, plus $50 per hour for each extra mover. Billing is hourly with a minimum, then prorated in 15-minute steps. California double drive time is state law and is billed as part of the hours.
• Packing. Packing labor is billed hourly. Boxes, file boxes, and anti-static wrap are quoted as line items.
• Deposit. A $100 non-refundable deposit holds your date and goes toward the final bill.
• Building costs. After-hours guard or engineer time, if the building charges for it.
• Street permits in your company's name, if the truck parks on the street.
• IT work. Disconnect, reconnect, new network gear, and internet install fees.
• Specialty vendors. AV mounting, furniture installer, shredding, and cleaning.
• Disposal. Haul-away and dump fees for what you leave behind.
• Overlap rent for the days both leases run.
• Extra coverage. Basic valuation is $0.60 per pound per item, set by the state. Ask about added coverage for high-value equipment.
• Card fees. We charge a 3% fee on card payments. Cash or check avoids it.

We do not add surcharges for stairs, long carries, elevators, or building access. Those add time, not fees. For rough time ranges, a 5 to 10 person office usually takes 5 to 9 hours with a 3 to 4 person crew. A 20 to 30 person office usually takes 10 to 16 hours over a weekend with a 4 to 5 person crew. Every estimate we write includes a Not to Exceed price.

For how hourly pricing, crew size, and drive time add up, read our Bay Area moving cost guide.

Common Mistakes

• Waiting on internet. If the new office has no service on Monday, nobody works. Order it first.
• A vague IT plan. "IT will handle it" is not a plan. Write down names and times.
• A late COI. No approved COI often means no elevator, and no elevator means no move.
• No numbered floor plan. The crew spends the first hour asking where things go.
• Moving junk. Paying to move broken chairs and old printers, then paying again to throw them out.
• Personal items mixed into department boxes. They are the first things to go missing.
• Too small a crew. A crew that is too small for the office turns a weekend into a Monday.
• Forgetting the old building. Both buildings have rules. Both may need a COI and an elevator booking.
• No one in charge on move day. The move lead should be on site from first box to last.

Where to Go From Here

Print this office move checklist, put a name next to every line, and start with the lease and the building rules. If you want help, we will walk your office, look at both buildings, and give you a written estimate. Call (510) 495-1884 or request a free office estimate. Hablamos Español.

Before you hire any mover, check their license on the BHGS license lookup. Ours is Cal-T201700, and we are fully insured, with 300+ five-star reviews from Bay Area homes and businesses. For more planning help, browse our moving guides library.