Office removals: costs, planning and restarting work
An office move is about more than delivering furniture. Workstations, documents and equipment need to become usable again. Clear responsibilities and a realistic time window help coordinate transport and the return to work.
What is actually moving?
Count the workstations being moved, rather than your entire workforce. Record archives, meeting rooms, stock and heavy equipment separately. A small office with many files may need more transport than a larger, mostly digital team.
An archive-only or furniture-only move does not need an invented workstation count. Before a binding quote, prepare an inventory with quantities and destination rooms. For multiple collection points or phases, specify what goes where and when.
How much do office removals cost?
A general cost per workstation says little without an inventory and defined services. Staff, vehicles, duration, carrying routes, assembly and working hours matter. Check whether coordination, packing materials and temporary storage are charged separately.
A limited transport example: one published Swiss tariff is CHF 220 per hour excluding VAT for three people and a 20 m³ truck. Six assumed billed hours produce CHF 1,320 before VAT, or CHF 1,426.92 including 8.1% VAT.
Checked in October 2026, this is a calculation aid, not an office-removal package or duration forecast. It does not promise IT work. Confirm minimum booking, travel, surcharges and scope. Allow for internal work too: eight staff packing for half an hour each use four person-hours, independently of the moving company’s invoice.
| Item | What to clarify for comparison |
|---|---|
| Transport | Team, vehicle, billed time and travel |
| Assembly and packing | Which furniture, which materials, who packs and unpacks? |
| IT | Transport only, workstation connections or server restart? |
| Phases and storage | Dates, temporary storage, extra journeys and access |
| Working hours | Evening or weekend work and any surcharges |
IT transport is not the same as commissioning
Assign responsibility for shutting down, labelling, packing, transporting and reconnecting devices. Connecting a workstation and bringing servers or a network back online are different tasks. Agree responsibilities between the movers and your IT team.
Arrange internet and telephone service at the new site separately with the responsible provider. Have your IT team check backups and recoverability before the move. Credentials and confidential files do not belong in a quote request.
Plan the move around your operations
An evening or weekend move can shift downtime, but does not automatically eliminate it. A phased move needs a clear sequence, access arrangements and handovers. Agree when individual teams need to resume work.
- Assign responsibility. One internal coordinator and one contact at the moving company bring decisions and changes together.
- Prepare the destination. Coordinate furniture plans, room labels, keys and lift use. Clarify parking and carrying routes early.
- Label the inventory. Mark furniture, boxes and equipment with a destination room and inventory number. Hand over files closed and in a traceable order.
- Check the restart. Check furniture and equipment. The responsible IT team tests necessary connections and applications; record outstanding issues.
Compare the same scope of work
A cheap transport price may omit assembly, extra journeys or technical restart. Ask for separate logistics, additional-work and IT items. For hourly billing, check estimated duration, billing increments and any agreed price ceiling.
Agree how inventory changes, rescheduling and damage will be handled. Check the actual insurance cover and any exclusions for business interruption or data loss. Transport insurance does not automatically cover these consequences.
Frequently asked questions
Can I move only part of the office?
Yes. Select the inventory involved. A department, individual furniture items or an archive can be requested separately.
Do files need to be packed already?
That depends on the packing service agreed. An approximate box count is enough for an initial assessment. Later clarify containers, filing order and confidential handling.
Can this cover a move within the same building?
Yes. Enter the same locality for collection and delivery and mention the internal move in the optional note. Floors, routes and any need for a vehicle can then be clarified.
Is everything guaranteed to work the following morning?
There is no general guarantee. Agree a schedule with contingency time, responsible people and testable handovers, especially for servers and connections.
