The Ultimate Office Move Checklist for IT Managers (2026 UK Guide)
- Chris Gore
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
The ultimate office move checklist for IT managers, 12 weeks of AV and IT preparation, what gets missed and how to avoid the most common overruns.
Chris Gore | Updated 2026
The physical move is the easy part of an office relocation. The IT and AV workstream, speccing the new rooms, ordering hardware within lead time windows, coordinating with the fit-out contractor, commissioning every device and training staff before anyone walks in, is where most office moves create problems that take months to resolve.
This is the honest week-by-week checklist for IT managers planning an office move in 2026. Twelve weeks of preparation. The things that get missed. And how to avoid the most common causes of overrun.
The Week-by-Week IT and AV Checklist
12 weeks before - AV brief and specification
Define what each meeting room in the new building needs before any hardware is ordered. Use the AV brief generator to produce a specification document per room type. This document becomes the basis for every procurement decision, every contractor conversation and every commissioning sign-off. The organisations that start here almost never experience significant overrun.
10 weeks before - network and infrastructure planning
Confirm cable routes, network port positions and VLAN configuration for the new space. If structured cabling is required, Cat6A runs, new patch panels, additional network ports, this work needs to be scoped and ordered now. Structural work in a new building has to happen before partitions go up and ceiling tiles go in.
8 weeks before - hardware procurement
Order all AV hardware once the specification is agreed and signed off. Not before, specification changes after ordering cost two to four weeks per change. Not after, commercial displays and specialist hardware have lead times of four to six weeks. Every day between specification sign-off and purchase order raises risks of the hardware not arriving before move day.
4 weeks before - pre-installation preparation
Confirm cable routes are in place and accessible. Confirm network ports are live and configured. Agree access windows with the principal contractor, when the AV installation team can be on site and in which areas. If any of these three things are not confirmed, the installation is at risk of stopping.
Week of move - installation, commissioning, sign-off
Installation of hardware. Connection and dressing of cables. Full commissioning, camera presets, microphone sensitivity, echo cancellation, calendar integration, touch controller logic. Every room tested against a defined standard. User training delivered. Rooms handed over confirmed working. For the most common reason this fails, read why most AV installations fail six months after handover.
The Ten Things Most IT Managers Forget In Their Office Move
• Specifying AV before the fit-out design is finalised - use the AV brief generator before any contractor conversation
• Including a commissioning budget in the AV quote - plugging it in is not commissioning
• Confirming network readiness at least two weeks before installation day
• User training at handover - thirty minutes per room type saves months of IT tickets
• SPORTrack monitoring from day one - the room that breaks on Monday morning and nobody knows about until 9am
• Dilapidations at the old lease - check whether AV removal is required or creates make-good obligations
• Double-running costs during overlap period - two offices, one budget
• Out-of-hours working requirements - some buildings restrict access to evenings and weekends only
• Parallel IT migration - phones, data, access control all moving simultaneously
• Change management - staff need to know how to use the new rooms before they are expected to use them
SPOR Group manages the AV workstream of office moves for businesses across the UK. From the AV brief twelve weeks out to SPORTrack monitoring active on day one. Use the AV brief generator to start the process before any supplier conversation.
Planning an Office Move and Need to Get the AV Right?
SPOR Group manages the AV workstream of office moves across the UK. Generate an AV brief first — it makes every conversation faster.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What should be on an office move IT checklist?
AV specification and brief, network and cabling planning, hardware procurement within lead time windows, pre-installation network readiness confirmation, installation and commissioning programme, user training at handover and monitoring from day one. Start twelve weeks before the move date.
When should I order AV hardware for an office move?
As soon as the specification is agreed and signed off, typically eight weeks before the move date for a standard project. Commercial displays have lead times of four to six weeks. Every day between sign-off and order adds risk of hardware not arriving before move day.
What is the most common AV mistake in an office move?
Ordering hardware before the specification is agreed. Specification changes after ordering add two to four weeks per change. The second most common mistake is not including commissioning in the AV quote, resulting in rooms that are installed but not configured.
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