A 5-month office relocation plan covering lease negotiation, fit-out, furniture, IT cutover and move weekend, with every vendor deadline and dependency mapped before the first box is packed.
Relocating an office is a construction project, an IT migration, and a change-management exercise happening at the same time, and the schedule only works if all three tracks land in the same week. The real constraint is rarely the move itself. It is the lease negotiation upstream and the IT cutover downstream, each with its own vendors, lead times and failure modes. This template lays out a 5-month office relocation for a company moving into a new leased space: needs analysis, site search, lease signing, fit-out, furniture, IT and telecom, and a move weekend that hands off cleanly into a working office on Monday morning. Open it in the app and drag any bar to fit your dates.
How a 5-month office move breaks down
01
Month 1: Needs analysis and site search
Month 1
Before you can search for space, you need to know what you are looking for: headcount today and in three years, desk ratio, meeting room count, and a budget ceiling that includes rent, fit-out, furniture, movers, and a contingency. Space requirements and budget approval happen first; the broker only starts productive tours once both are locked. Expect 3–5 site tours before a shortlist of two or three finalists emerges.
Assemble the relocation committee
Complete needs analysis and space program
Set and approve the relocation budget
Tour shortlisted sites with a broker
02
Month 2: Negotiate the lease and design the space
Month 2
Lease negotiation is a legal and financial track running in parallel with early design work: term length, rent escalation, tenant improvement allowance, and the exit clause on the old lease all get negotiated before signature. The moment the lease is signed, the architect and space planner start the layout in earnest: desk counts, meeting rooms, phone booths, and where the server room or IT closet goes, since that decision gates cabling and fit-out.
Negotiate lease terms and tenant improvement allowance
Sign the lease
Start space planning and floor layout
Kick off internal communications about the move
03
Month 3: Fit-out, IT planning, and furniture
Month 3
Construction crews take over the space once the design is signed off: walls, ceilings, electrical, and finishes. Furniture gets ordered now because commercial furniture (desks, chairs, and especially anything upholstered or custom) routinely runs 6–10 weeks lead time, so ordering late is the single most common cause of an empty-looking office on move-in day. IT and telecom infrastructure planning also starts here: circuit orders for internet and phone lines need 30–45 days notice from the carrier.
Begin fit-out and construction
Order furniture (6–10 week lead time)
Finalize the IT and telecom infrastructure plan
Order data and phone circuits from the carrier
04
Month 4: Cabling, delivery, and move logistics
Month 4
IT and telecom install happens once fit-out is far enough along: cabling, network switches, Wi-Fi access points and desk phones, followed by a full test pass before anyone relies on it. Furniture gets delivered and installed in the finished space. In parallel, hire the moving company (get 3 quotes; commercial movers book out 4–6 weeks for weekday moves), update the registered business address with banks, vendors, and utilities, and start packing non-essential items and labeling everything by department and destination desk.
Install cabling, network, and desk phones
Deliver and install furniture
Hire movers and confirm move-day logistics
Update address, utilities, and vendor records
Pack and label by department
05
Month 5: Move weekend and settling in
Month 5
The move itself should be boring, which means everything upstream worked. Move over a weekend so the office reopens Monday morning with desks, phones, and network live. IT runs a full test pass first: Wi-Fi, phone lines, printers, badge access, and every workstation logging in before the first employee arrives. The following two weeks are for the snag list: the small things (a door that does not latch, a meeting room screen that is not paired) that only surface once people are working in the space.
Move weekend: movers and IT cutover
Test IT systems at the new site
Work the settle-in snag list
Close out the old space
Tips from office moves that went smoothly
01Order furniture the same week the lease is signed. Commercial lead times of 6–10 weeks are longer than most budgets account for, and a delayed order is the most common reason the new office looks half-finished on day one.
02Get IT to test the new circuit and Wi-Fi at least a week before move weekend, not the morning of. Carrier activation slips are common, and you want to find out on a Tuesday, not on move day with 80 people staring at a spinning wheel.
03Negotiate the exit date on the old lease with a 2–3 week buffer past your planned move-out. Fit-out schedules slip, and overlap coverage is cheaper than a forced move before the new space is ready.
04Move over a weekend, not a weekday. It costs slightly more but means zero business disruption, and IT gets two full days to fix anything that breaks during cutover instead of one evening.
05Label boxes and furniture by destination desk or zone, not just by department. Movers placing 200 boxes work off the label, not a floor plan they have never seen.
Frequently asked questions
How far in advance should we start planning an office move?
Five months works well for a standard leased-space relocation. Add 2–3 months if the new space needs a full fit-out from a bare shell, or if you are negotiating a large lease in a competitive market.
What is the most common cause of delay?
Furniture and IT circuit lead times. Both routinely take 6–10 weeks, so ordering either after fit-out starts, instead of right after the lease is signed, turns them into the critical path instead of parallel work.
Can I open this template and customize it?
Yes. Click "Open this template in the app". It loads instantly, and you can drag, rename, and re-color every task. The app runs entirely in your browser. Your data never leaves the device.
Open the office relocation template, drag the bars to fit your dates, and you have a working 5-month plan in under a minute. No signup, no account, no upload.
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