Office Moving Hints

moving_officeOffice moving can often be complex, with lots of small items that need to be located in the right place. Your MiniMovers crew will be very experienced and can sort things out quickly, but they can only deal with what they are presented. Your move will proceed more quickly and smoothly if it is organised properly. Our biggest tip is to have only one person in charge of the move. This will save a lot of confusion. When you book, we will go through the details of your move with this person. This person should know the layout of the new premises and be the only person directing or instructing your MiniMovers crew. On a moving day, we will constantly communicate with this person to ensure a low-cost move. If you need to, it can be a different person at each location, however, they must know what each other is doing.

Planning your office move

  • The moving day and time. Our weekend and night rates are only slightly higher than weekday rates. Moves, when nobody else is around (i.e. at night or on the weekend), are substantially faster and, therefore lower in cost. You can also use this to your advantage, as it is a lot less disruptive to your operations.
  • Building access times and/or security requirements. It pays to check with your building supervisors. It is important you have lift keys – without them, there is a risk of damage to the lifts, and the move will be considerably slower.
  • What you are moving and where you are going to put it.

Refining your plan

Consider the physical size of furniture and boxes, and where they will fit best in your new premises. You may find using a plan useful, as well as marking your boxes. We can advise quick and easy ways to mark everything. Coloured dots or coding works well in bigger office moves. This will substantially reduce the time your move will take.

Your staff

Do you want them to help with the move? Can they help with the move? Allowing your employees to pack or move your items can sometimes be disastrous. This could also lead to serious injuries and you’ll end up wasting a lot of money to pay for hospitalisation.

Packing an office

With office moves, we recommend you use your own staff to pack. Your people know more about what you have, and where it belongs. Having your people pack is also a good opportunity to have a cleanout. However, our professional packing service, MiniMovers Packing, is available to you if needed.

Helpful points for packing

  • Packing takes longer than moving.
  • Start early (at least a week before), so you are finished and organised when the moving day arrives.

Use the right-sized boxes

  • Our boxes are designed so they can be moved easily. Do not use standard boxes for heavy items such as paper, files, books, etc.
  • Mark every box (we recommend the use of identifying dots).
  • If no stairs are involved (at either location) then we can move most filing cabinets full. However, stationery cabinets and desk drawers must be empty.
  • When dismantling furniture, tape the screws to the item. Note our crews can do any dismantling if needed (we use electric screwdrivers for speed).

Boxes and packing materials

MiniMovers has a full range of packing materials available, which can be delivered to your office, free-of-charge (in most metropolitan areas only). Once you have made a booking with MiniMovers, you can order your materials through our oversupply system. We simply supply more materials than needed, you use as much as you want, and when our movers arrive they take back what you haven’t used. Ultimately, you only pay for what you use, and you also get the peace of mind that you won’t run out of boxes halfway through packing. We will even buy back used boxes after you have unpacked them.

Dismantlers

When there are a lot of panels, shelves, racks, etc, that need to be dismantled before the movers arrive, we recommend you use our dismantlers who zip through the office with electric screwdrivers and unscrew everything. This has two advantages: it ensures everything is dismantled properly for moving, and it gives us a chance to fix any areas not quite finished. Our dismantlers will handle any handyman-type tasks if needed. They can also reassemble anything after the move is completed.

The moving team

We charge in modules of a truck and two men, and any extra men as an individual cost. We can change the size of the crew during the move to suit the circumstances. This flexibility can generate large cost savings.

Parking permits

The City Council may have restricted parking period in the CBD. However, permits can be obtained for jobs where entry is required but restrictions may apply (truck size and entry times).

We suggest you ring the council personally and make your situation known. We will do our best to meet council regulations, however, any fines incurred will be passed on to you. Remember, MiniMovers is happy to handle any aspect of your move. We believe that it is your prerogative if you want to save money and help out in as many ways as you can.

We can often move you at short notice, but it is usually better to book your moving service as soon as you know when you want to move, what you want to move, and where you are moving to. Without these three factors, no one can give you an accurate price or availability.

Check out our Ultimate Guide to Moving Office.