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Quick answer: a smooth office relocation in Nairobi starts 8 to 12 weeks ahead with a move coordinator, a floor plan for the new space and an inventory of furniture and IT. Book commercial movers who survey the office first, schedule the physical move for a Friday night or weekend, back up and label all IT equipment, and keep staff, clients and suppliers informed at every stage. Use the week-by-week checklist below.
We relocate offices across Nairobi, from small teams in Westlands and Upper Hill to multi-floor moves for organisations and government offices. This checklist brings together what we have learned from those moves.
Office relocation checklist: week by week
8 to 12 weeks before
- Appoint one internal move coordinator who makes decisions and is the contact for the movers.
- Confirm the move date, the lease end at the old office and access to the new one.
- Get a floor plan of the new office and decide where each team, desk and printer will go.
- List what is moving, what is being sold or disposed of, and what new furniture is coming.
- Ask two or three office movers for a site survey and an itemised written quote.
6 weeks before
- Book your movers and agree the schedule, crew size and any after-hours work.
- Book internet, phone lines and power checks at the new office so they are live before move day.
- Ask both buildings about lift bookings, loading bays, parking and moving hours.
- Plan IT: which systems can go offline, when, and in what order they come back up.
4 weeks before
- Tell staff the date, the new address and what is expected of each person.
- Inform clients, suppliers and your bank of the new address and any service interruption.
- Order new signage, letterheads and business cards.
- Arrange temporary storage for anything that cannot go straight into the new office.
2 weeks before
- Back up all data, and test that the backup can be restored.
- Start packing archives and items that are not used daily.
- Label every desk, box and piece of equipment with its destination room and desk number.
- Clear out old files and furniture you are not taking.
Move week
- Staff pack their own desks into labelled crates by the last working day.
- IT shuts down and disconnects equipment in the agreed order.
- Movers dismantle workstations, wrap furniture and load in the planned sequence.
- The coordinator checks off the inventory as items leave and as they arrive.
The first week in the new office
- Test every workstation, printer, phone and network point before staff arrive.
- Walk the old office one last time for anything left behind.
- Update your address on your website, Google Business Profile, invoices and social media.
- Collect staff feedback and fix layout problems early.
How to minimise business downtime
- Move after hours. A Friday evening or weekend move means staff leave one office on Friday and start in the new one on Monday.
- Move in phases. For larger offices, move one department at a time so the business keeps running.
- Protect critical functions. Decide which services cannot stop, such as customer support, finance or servers, and give them priority, a backup plan or temporary remote work.
- Prepare the new space first. Internet, power and furniture layout should be ready before the first box arrives.
Moving IT equipment and servers safely
- Inventory. List every computer, monitor, printer, server and network device with its serial number and destination.
- Back up. Back up all data before anything is unplugged.
- Label cables. Photograph and label connections so equipment can be reconnected quickly.
- Pack properly. Use anti-static wrap and padded crates, and move servers upright with racks secured.
- Transport securely. Keep IT equipment in a closed truck, loaded last and unloaded first.
- Reinstall and test. Reconnect in the planned order and test before staff return.
Heavy items such as safes, server racks and machinery may need pallet trucks or a crane. Tell your movers about them at the survey.
Confidential files and documents
Pack sensitive files in sealed, numbered containers and keep a list of what is in each one. Ask your movers to keep confidential items under direct supervision from your office to the new one, and check the seals on arrival. This is also a good time to archive or securely destroy records you no longer need to keep.
Shops, warehouses and other commercial moves
Retail, warehouse and industrial moves add stock, shelving and equipment to the plan. Count stock before and after the move, move fast-selling stock last so you can keep trading as long as possible, and plan for heavy or oversized items. For large or regulated items, check whether you need any permits or special handling before the move.
Choosing office movers
Look for movers who survey your office before quoting, give an itemised written price, carry Goods in Transit insurance, have experience with IT equipment and will work after hours. Our guide on how to choose movers in Nairobi lists the questions to ask and the red flags to avoid.
What affects the cost of an office move
- The number of workstations, staff and departments
- The distance between the old and new office
- IT equipment, servers and fragile items that need special handling
- Access at both buildings: stairs, lifts and parking
- Timing: weekday, weekend or after hours
- Temporary storage during the move
Every office move is quoted after a site survey, so you get an itemised price before you commit.
How long does an office move take to plan?
The right amount of planning time depends on the size of the office, how much IT equipment you have and whether the new space needs work before you can move in. As a rule of thumb, the bigger the team, the earlier you should start.
| Office size | Suggested planning time | Typical moving window |
|---|---|---|
| Up to 10 staff | 4 to 6 weeks | One evening or a Saturday |
| 10 to 50 staff | 2 to 3 months | One weekend |
| 50 to 150 staff | 3 to 6 months | One or two weekends, often in phases |
| Over 150 staff or several floors | 6 months or more | Phased moves over several weekends |
These are guidelines, not rules. A small office with a server room, a lab or a lot of archived files may need as much planning as a much larger team with only laptops.
Appoint a move coordinator and a small team
Office moves go wrong most often when nobody owns the project. Choose one person to coordinate the move, give them the authority to make decisions and set aside time in their week for it. In a larger organisation, support them with a small team that includes someone from IT, someone from finance or administration, and a representative from each department.
The coordinator’s job is to keep the plan, the budget and the timeline in one place. They agree the scope with the moving company, approve the floor plan, collect each department’s requirements and act as the single point of contact on moving day. When staff have questions, they know who to ask, and the movers get one clear set of instructions instead of ten conflicting ones.
Plan the new office layout before you pack
The layout of the new office decides where every desk, cabinet and box will go, so finish it before packing starts. Get a floor plan of the new space from the landlord and mark each workstation, meeting room, storage area and the server or comms room.
- Give every desk and room a number on the floor plan.
- Label every box, chair, cabinet and computer with the destination number, not just the department name.
- Check that power points, network points and lighting match the planned layout.
- Measure doorways, lifts and stairwells for large items such as boardroom tables, safes and server racks.
- Decide early which old furniture is moving, which is being sold or donated, and what new furniture needs to be ordered.
On moving day, a copy of the floor plan should be taped at the entrance of each floor, so the crew can place items without asking.
Lease, landlord and building obligations
The office you are leaving
Read your current lease carefully before you give notice. Many commercial leases in Nairobi require several months’ notice and ask you to return the space in its original condition. That can mean removing partitions, repainting, repairing floors and taking out cabling you installed. Agree what reinstatement is needed with the landlord in writing, take dated photos of the space, and ask for a joint inspection before you hand back the keys, so you have the best chance of recovering your deposit.
The office you are moving into
Confirm the date you get access to the new space, and whether any fit-out work will be finished in time. Ask the building management about moving hours, service lift bookings, loading bay access, parking for the truck and any insurance certificates the building needs from your mover. Many office blocks in Westlands, Upper Hill and Kilimani only allow moves in the evening or at weekends, so plan the moving window around these rules.
Tell staff, clients and suppliers
A move affects everyone who works with you, not only the people in the office. Communicate early and repeat the important details.
- Staff: share the moving date, the new address, directions, parking and transport options, and what each person needs to pack. Explain how desks will be allocated and when IT will be ready.
- Clients: tell key clients the new address and any days when you will be less available. Update email signatures, proposals and invoices.
- Suppliers and service providers: tell couriers, cleaners, security, water and stationery suppliers, and your internet provider, as early as possible.
- Visitors: update your Google Business Profile, website contact page and social media with the new address on the day you move.
Update your business details after the move
Moving office means updating your registered details in several places. Depending on your business, this can include your registered office address with the Business Registration Service, your details on the KRA iTax system, your county business permit, which is tied to the location of the business, your bank, your insurers and any licences or regulatory registrations that show your address. Make a list of every place your address appears and work through it in the first few weeks.
Assign roles for moving day
Moving day runs smoothly when everyone knows their job. Agree these roles before the day itself:
| Role | Responsibility |
|---|---|
| Move coordinator | Single contact for the movers; makes decisions on the day |
| IT lead | Shuts down, disconnects and reconnects computers, servers and network equipment |
| Floor marshals | One per floor or department; checks items arrive in the right place |
| Security or admin | Manages access, keys, visitor passes and confidential files |
| Moving company supervisor | Leads the crew and reports to the move coordinator |
Ask staff to clear their desks, pack their personal items and lock drawers before they leave on the last working day. Most staff should not be on site while the move is happening, because the crew works faster with clear corridors and lifts.
Decide what to do with old furniture and equipment
An office move is a good opportunity to get rid of things you no longer need. Old desks, broken chairs, outdated computers and years of paper files all cost money to move. Decide early what to sell, donate, recycle or destroy. Electronic waste should go to a licensed e-waste recycler, and computers and hard drives should be wiped or destroyed properly first, so no company or customer data leaves the building.
The first week in the new office
Plan for the first week to be a settling-in period rather than business as usual.
- Have the IT lead and the moving company supervisor on hand on the first morning to fix problems quickly.
- Walk every floor and check that each desk, computer and phone is working.
- Collect a list of missing or damaged items from each department and report them to the mover in writing.
- Make sure fire exits, first aid kits and security systems are working before staff arrive.
- Arrange for packing materials and empty crates to be collected.
- Ask staff for feedback, and fix small problems such as lighting, seating and noise early.
Common office relocation mistakes
- Starting too late. Leases, fit-outs and internet installations all take longer than expected.
- Forgetting the internet connection. New lines can take weeks to install, so order them as soon as the lease is signed.
- Not labelling to the floor plan. Boxes marked only with a department name end up in the wrong room.
- Moving clutter. Paying to move old files and furniture you will throw away later.
- Ignoring building rules. A truck refused at the gate or a lift that is not booked can waste the whole moving window.
- No single decision-maker. Without one coordinator, the movers get conflicting instructions on the day.
- Not budgeting for reinstatement. The cost of restoring the old office can be significant and often comes as a surprise.
Budgeting beyond the moving company
The mover’s quote is only one part of the cost of relocating an office. Set aside money for reinstating the old space, fit-out and partitioning in the new one, new furniture, internet installation, new signage and printed materials, cleaning and the time staff spend packing and settling in. A contingency of around ten to fifteen percent of the total budget gives you room for the surprises that every office move brings.
Office moves outside Nairobi
Many businesses relocate between towns, open branch offices or consolidate several offices into one. Moves between Nairobi and towns such as Mombasa, Kisumu, Nakuru or Eldoret need more planning, because the truck is on the road for longer and staff may be travelling too. Pack and load at the end of the working week, transport overnight or over the weekend, and plan to set up on arrival. Our guide to long-distance moving in Kenya covers the routes and planning in more detail. For moves that include heavy equipment, read our machinery and equipment moving guide.
With a clear plan, one person in charge and a mover who understands office relocations, most businesses can move over a weekend and be working normally in the new space within a day or two.
Frequently asked questions
Start planning 8 to 12 weeks ahead and book movers at least 2 weeks before the move. Larger offices and multi-department moves need 6 to 8 weeks of planning with the movers.
Schedule the physical move for a Friday night or weekend, move in phases for larger offices, and make sure internet and power are working at the new office before move day.
Staff usually pack their own desk items into labelled crates, and the movers pack and move furniture, IT equipment, files and everything else.
Back up all data, label cables, pack equipment in anti-static wrap and padded crates, move it in a closed truck and test everything before staff return.
Update your address on your website, Google Business Profile, invoices, letterheads and social media, and tell clients, suppliers, your bank and relevant authorities.
It depends on office size, distance, IT equipment, access and timing. Professional movers give a free, itemised quote after surveying the office.
Planning an office move?
Nairobi Movers handles office moving and corporate relocation across Nairobi, with after-hours and weekend moves available 24/7, IT and server handling, and secure storage if your new office is not ready. Call 0724 225 178 or WhatsApp us to book a free site survey.
