Planning an office move in Johannesburg: a 6-week playbook

Office moves are nothing like home moves. There are IT systems, compliance documents, furniture warranties and — most importantly — a team that still needs to hit their numbers while the chaos is happening.

Here’s the 6-week playbook we use for every office relocation we handle in Gauteng.

Week 6 — decide and announce

• Sign the new lease and confirm the exact handover date.
• Announce the move internally — people need time to plan their commutes.
• Assign a move coordinator — one person, accountable, with authority to make decisions.
• Book the movers for a weekend after business hours. Budget a Saturday-to-Sunday window.

Week 4 — inventory and IT

• Full asset inventory. Every desk, chair, monitor and server needs a number.
• Brief IT early. Servers, networking, VoIP and printers all need a migration plan — ideally a test run.
• Measure the new space. Will your existing boardroom table actually fit through the new door?
• Book insurance. Goods-in-transit cover is cheap insurance against expensive disasters.

Week 2 — boxes and access

• Order labelled crates. We drop them off two weeks before; you pack as you go.
• Arrange building access at both sites — lift bookings, after-hours security, parking for the trucks.
• Confirm parking for the truck — many Joburg office parks restrict access without prior arrangement.
• Do a pre-move walkthrough of both sites with the move team.

Week of the move

• Label everything. Crate number, destination floor, destination room. Colour-coded tape works wonders.
• Back up all servers and critical files the day before.
• Pack a “first morning” kit for each department — chargers, stationery, the office coffee machine.

Move weekend

• Start Friday afternoon. Labels on the walls at the new site so crews know where crates go.
• IT should arrive on Sunday morning to set up the network before people return Monday.
• Do a walkthrough of the old space on Sunday evening for anything left behind.

Week after the move

• Two-week settling period. Expect small issues — wrong keys, printer mapping, missing cables.
• Collect signed inventory confirming everything arrived.
• Close out the old lease — cleaning, dilapidations, key handover.

Common pitfalls

1. Under-booking trucks. A “quick office move” that needs three trips instead of one blows the timeline.
2. Ignoring building rules. Goods lifts, after-hours access and parking restrictions can derail a move.
3. Moving IT last. IT needs to go first so it’s ready for Monday morning.
4. Forgetting about compliance. POPIA rules mean you can’t just bin old client files — they need secure destruction.

Want help planning your next office move? Talk to our commercial team — we’ve coordinated hundreds of office relocations across Gauteng.