Questions to ask an office-moving company before booking

Your new office lease is signed. Now comes the part that keeps many business owners awake: finding someone you can trust to move your entire operation without losing a day of work or damaging equipment worth thousands. The difference between a smooth transition and a costly disaster often comes down to the questions you ask—and how closely you listen to the answers.

When you first contact an office-moving company, you're not just checking availability. You're auditioning someone to handle the nerve centre of your business. A good mover will welcome detailed questions; a vague or defensive response is a yellow flag.

"Can you walk me through exactly how you'd handle our IT setup?"

This is the question that separates movers who understand office relocations from those who treat them like house moves. A competent answer will include specifics: who isolates and labels cables, whether they'll coordinate with your IT team, how they'll verify equipment is running on arrival, and what happens if something doesn't reconnect properly.

Listen for concrete detail. If they say "we'll just move the computers carefully," that's not enough. You need to hear about their process for segregating sensitive tech, protecting it during transit, and ideally, offering some form of accountability if something fails to power up at the new site. Ask whether they've done similar moves and request a reference from a business with comparable IT complexity.

"What's your protocol if we discover stock or files missing after the move?"

You want to know this *before* you sign, not after. A straight answer might sound like: "We conduct a walk-through with you at both locations, document what we move, and keep an itemised list. If something goes missing, we trace it immediately and cover the replacement cost up to [amount] as outlined in our contract."

A weak answer—"that doesn't really happen" or "you'd need to check your insurance"—means they're not taking accountability seriously. Reputable movers will have a clear escalation process and likely insurance to back it. Ask them to explain their liability cover and what it includes. Request this detail in writing before you commit.

"How will you keep our team and clients informed on moving day?"

Downtime isn't just inconvenient; it costs money. You need to understand their communication plan. A good mover will outline:

• How they'll notify you of arrival times and progress
• Whether they'll coordinate with you via WhatsApp, email or phone
• What happens if they run late and how much notice you'll get
• Whether a named point of contact will be on-site throughout

Ask if they've managed moves that required phased handover—some offices can't afford to go fully dark. Do they have experience moving one department at a time, or setting up a temporary working station? The answers reveal whether they think beyond the truck.

"What happens if something goes wrong on moving day?"

Don't ask it defensively. Frame it as "what's your contingency plan if we hit an unexpected problem?" This covers weather delays, vehicle issues, access problems at the new building, or damage discovered mid-move.

A credible mover will have thought this through. They might say: "If we encounter an obstacle, we contact you immediately, assess options, and either resolve it on the day or arrange a follow-up. We carry spare equipment for common issues and maintain contact with our team lead every hour." They should also outline what happens to your belongings if they can't complete the move—secure storage arrangements and timeline.

Ask for their cancellation and rescheduling policy in writing. Moving companies that won't put terms on paper are hiding something.

Listening to what isn't said

Pay attention to whether they ask *you* detailed questions back. A thorough mover will want to know about access restrictions at your new building, sensitive items requiring special handling, whether there are basement stairs or lifts involved, and what your shutdown and startup schedule looks like. If they're not curious about your business, they haven't planned properly.

Once you've narrowed it down, ask for references from at least two recent office relocations of similar size. Call them. "Did they finish on time?" and "Would you use them again?" are the questions that matter.

When you're ready to book, review the contract carefully—it should address damage liability, timeline guarantees, and what "complete" actually means. Verified movers on Strove have track records you can check, saving you the detective work.