An office can be fully moved on Sunday and still be unable to serve customers on Monday. The desks have arrived, but the internet is not active, a printer cannot be found and nobody knows which box contains the reception phone. Physical delivery and business readiness need separate checks.
This office-relocation checklist for Nairobi is built around that distinction. Give every important task an owner, decide what must work before staff return and make the moving team’s responsibilities explicit. A weekend booking can help with access, but it does not by itself protect business continuity.
Define what “ready to work” means for your organisation
List the activities that cannot stop: receiving enquiries, processing payments, accessing shared files, serving walk-in customers or dispatching goods. Different businesses will have different priorities. A small consultancy may need functioning laptops and connectivity before anything else; a retail head office may depend on stock records and payment processes.
For each activity, name an owner and write down a minimum workable arrangement. That could be a temporary workstation, an agreed alternative internet connection or staff working elsewhere for a defined period. These are operational decisions for your management and technical teams, not assumptions to leave with the movers.
Our office-moving service covers assessment, agreed handling and relocation work. Specialist network configuration, software access and business acceptance need their own responsibilities, even where the moving crew helps position equipment.
Appoint a coordinator who can make decisions
Choose one internal contact to maintain the move plan and resolve questions. Give that person access to the people responsible for facilities, IT, finance, records and staff communication. One coordinator does not mean one person does every task; it means decisions have a clear route.
Create a contact sheet for the origin manager, destination manager, moving company, IT provider and essential installers. Include an alternative contact for each building if the usual person will be unavailable during an evening or weekend move.
Keep the current floor plan, inventory, quotation and access approvals together. When a department changes its requirements, update that shared version. A new desk layout discussed privately with one team should not become a surprise during unloading.
Build the inventory around destinations
Number workstations, cabinets, printers and larger shared assets. Record their current location and their destination zone. A useful label might read “Finance, F03, desk and pedestal” rather than just “office furniture”. It helps the crew place items correctly without revealing sensitive information.
List equipment serial numbers or asset identifiers in your internal register where appropriate. Keep the detailed register under company control. Public-facing box labels should not advertise passwords, confidential clients or the contents of sensitive files.
Separate assets into moving, retiring, returning to a supplier and staying behind. Confirm who has authority to approve disposal or transfer. Do not let the moving day become an informal decision about whether a cabinet or computer is still needed.
Photograph furniture that requires dismantling and note fittings or manufacturer instructions. Discuss packing and furniture-protection requirements during the survey so the right handling work is included.
Inspect both premises before fixing the sequence
At the old office, check the path from each department to the loading point. At the new office, follow the route from the vehicle to the final rooms. Record lift dimensions, loading-bay access, stairs, vehicle restrictions and any areas still under construction.
Ask both building managers about approved moving hours, lift reservations, security clearance and any requirements for protecting common areas. Rules differ between properties. Do not assume that a Friday evening booking gives unrestricted access throughout the weekend.
Mixed-use buildings deserve particular attention. Offices, shops and residents may share loading facilities. Our Westlands building-access guide explains the underlying issue: the route through the property can be more restrictive than the journey on the road.
Resolve conflicting access windows
If loading is allowed only on Friday night but the destination accepts deliveries only on Saturday morning, the move needs an agreed holding arrangement. Establish where the goods will be, who controls them, how the additional handling works and which charges apply.
Do not discover this conflict once the old office is empty. Where storage is necessary, discuss business storage arrangements before signing off the schedule. Identify any files or equipment that must remain accessible during the gap.
Let the IT team own the technical checklist
Confirm when internet, telephony and other required services will be available at the new premises. Ask the providers to assess installation requirements and agree a test date. A booking confirmation is not evidence that a connection has been installed and tested.
Before equipment is disconnected, the responsible technical person should verify the backup and recovery arrangements. Record approved disconnection and reconnection responsibilities, and agree how company devices and removable media will be accounted for during transport.
Label equipment and accessories as matched sets. Photograph cable connections where useful, bag accessories by workstation and keep network equipment identifiable. Never put passwords or recovery credentials on visible packaging. Follow your organisation’s security process for those records.
Servers, specialist systems and equipment under a service agreement may need their manufacturer or supplier involved. The moving crew should not be expected to diagnose a technical problem that was never within its scope.
Communicate the parts that affect other people
Staff need a practical notice: their last working location, what they must pack, how to label personal and company belongings, where they will report after the move and whom to contact if something is missing. Be specific about desks and shared areas rather than asking everyone to “prepare for relocation”.
Tell customers and suppliers about changes that affect deliveries, visits or contact arrangements. Update the business address on the channels and records your team uses, with the appropriate approvals. Make a separate list so an important change is not forgotten while people concentrate on boxes.
Arrange access for contractors who must work before the first business day. If furniture installation, cleaning and connectivity work share the same rooms, agree their order. Several teams arriving at once can prevent each other from completing otherwise simple jobs.
Confirm the moving scope and the commercial terms
Compare quotations against the same inventory, floor plan and access details. State whether packing, dismantling, reassembly, department placement and any removal of used materials are included. Agree how a change in inventory or a delayed destination handover would be handled.
Use our moving-cost guide for broad context, then request a survey-based quotation. An office with five workstations can still involve substantial records, storage furniture or specialist equipment, so desk count alone is not a complete measure.
Clarify insurance terms, payment stages and the procedure for reporting loss or damage. Keep the accepted documents accessible to the coordinator. If several departments are paying different parts of the move, settle that internally before suppliers need an answer.
The final working day: close the gaps
- Confirm which services remain available to customers during the move.
- Check that destination utilities and essential connections have been tested.
- Verify the final inventory, labels and floor-plan version.
- Separate items that will travel with authorised staff.
- Confirm both buildings’ access contacts and approved windows.
- Record the escalation process for a change or delay.
Walk the old office with department representatives. Check cupboards, meeting rooms, stores and shared kitchens. Keep keys, access cards, important documents and any technical credentials under controlled custody rather than in an untracked box.
Use two sign-offs at the new office
First: the physical move
Count furniture, boxes and equipment against the inventory. Check placement and accessible condition with the crew. Record missing items, visible damage or unfinished tasks promptly, using photographs and the agreed reporting process where needed.
Keep the delivery record factual. It can confirm that listed items arrived while also noting that technical operation has not yet been tested. Avoid treating one signature as proof that every business system is ready.
Second: the operational check
Each task owner tests the functions agreed at the start. Can staff access the files they need? Can reception receive calls? Does the relevant printer work? Can customers contact the business through the published channels? Are important records where authorised staff can find them?
Write down failures, owners and the next action. Use the fallback arrangement if a critical service is unavailable. The goal is a controlled return to work, with a clear view of what remains unresolved.
Keep the first business day deliberately light
Allow time for locating items, adjusting desk placement and resolving issues. Keep the coordinator available and prevent packaging from blocking walkways or exits. Review the snag list before releasing contractors whose work still needs checking.
If the relocation involves staff homes as well as the workplace, give those moves their own inventories and schedules. Our residential moving team can assess the household element separately so it does not disappear inside the office plan.
When requesting an office quotation, send the inventory, both premises, proposed access windows and floor plan through our enquiry form. The most useful deadline is the one tied to a tested business function, not simply the time the last truck leaves.