Office relocation
Office Movers in the Bay Area
Office moves planned around your business hours, so your team comes back to a working office. Full-time ShipShape crews, never subcontractors.
Get a QuoteOffice moving or commercial moving?
We run them as two different services, because an office and a store move for different reasons and with different things.
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Office moving
For businesses where people work at desks. The goal is getting your team back to work with as little downtime as possible.
Who it's for
- Corporate offices and headquarters
- Law firms
- Accounting and financial offices
- Technology companies
- Startups and growing companies
- Professional service firms
- Administrative offices and clinic front offices
- Coworking and shared offices
What we move
- Desks, chairs and cubicles
- Workstations, computers and monitors
- Server and network gear
- Filing cabinets, files and documents
- Conference room furniture
Separate service
Commercial moving
For businesses built around stock, fixtures and equipment. The goal is getting your doors open again quickly.
Who it's for
- Restaurants and cafes
- Retail stores
- Salons and spas
- Gyms and fitness studios
- Showrooms
- Warehouses and commercial storage
- Other small and mid-sized businesses
What we move
- Inventory and merchandise
- Shelving, racks and displays
- Store fixtures
- Commercial furniture and equipment
- Storage contents
Outside business hoursEvening, weekend and overnight moves keep your workdays clear.
Labeled to a floor planEvery desk, monitor and box has a spot in the new office.
Building paperwork handledCOIs, freight elevators and loading times at both buildings.
How we plan an office move
- On-site walkthroughBefore the move date we come to your office to see the space, what's moving and how your teams work. The written estimate is built from that visit.
- Plan and paperworkA labeled floor plan with a color per department, IT disconnect and reconnect timing worked out with your IT team, and the certificate of insurance, freight elevator and loading time booked with building management at both addresses.
- Move windowThe crew works the window the building assigns, often after hours or over a weekend. Larger offices can move in phases or floor by floor, so critical teams come back first.
- SetupDesks, cubicles and conference tables are put back together and placed by the floor plan, so your team walks into a working office.
Book one to three weeks ahead, and more for larger or phased moves.
Offices we move
Corporate offices
The challenge: Many people and departments that all need to be working again at once.
How we handle it: Department colors on the floor plan, and departments moved in a set order.
Law firms
The challenge: Heavy filing cabinets, reference shelves and private offices that must arrive in order.
How we handle it: Files and shelves boxed and labeled by office and cabinet, so they go back where they came from.
Technology companies
The challenge: Computers, monitors and network gear, often tied to a person rather than a room.
How we handle it: Equipment labeled to each person or team, moved with their furniture, with reconnect timing set with your IT team.
Financial and professional services
The challenge: Organized records, private offices and client meetings that can't be cancelled.
How we handle it: Records kept boxed by office, and moves after hours or on weekends so client days stay clear.
Startups and growing companies
The challenge: Small teams, short timelines, often a first move out of coworking.
How we handle it: A walkthrough of both spaces, a simple labeling plan and a crew sized to the job.
Clinic and administrative offices
The challenge: Front-desk and waiting-room furniture, files and office equipment, with clients booked to the last day.
How we handle it: Moved around your closing hours. Tell us about any medical equipment on the walkthrough and we'll confirm what our crew can move.
Coworking and shared offices
The challenge: Several teams sharing furniture, elevators and loading access on tight building schedules.
How we handle it: Everything labeled by team, with the elevator and loading time booked in advance.
Case study
Law firm office relocation: San Mateo to Palo Alto
About 20 workstations, attorney offices, a conference room, file storage, a legal library and a large multifunction copier.
- Library boxes labeled by section and shelf, so they went straight to the matching shelves.
- Each workstation moved as one labeled group: computer, monitors, dock, chair and desk boxes.
- The new office mapped into numbered zones, so everything went to the right place the first time.
Planning an office move? Tell us both addresses and your headcount, and we'll set up a walkthrough.
Office moves around the Bay Area
Buildings, parking and loading rules change from city to city. Open a city to see what we plan for there.
San Francisco
Most downtown, SoMa and Mission Bay office towers want a certificate of insurance naming the building, a reserved freight elevator and a dock time, and many limit move hours on weekdays. We plan the arrival around both the building's window and the SFMTA temporary no-parking or loading-zone permit. When the truck can't get close, we shuttle from the nearest legal loading point.
Example: A 30-person company moving between two downtown towers needs elevator and dock times at both buildings, workstations labeled by department, and an order that gets the essential teams working first.
Oakland
Evening, weekend and overnight moves are standard in downtown Oakland buildings, and we pull and post the OakDOT permit when the load-in needs street space. Offices in Jack London loft and warehouse conversions often come with dock loading, low clearances and, in some buildings, weekday-only access, so we check ceiling height and door width before move day.
Example: A firm moving from a downtown floor into a converted Jack London loft needs the elevator booked at one end, the right truck for the clearance at the other, and its furniture plan checked against the loft's doors.
Berkeley
Our office is on Addison Street, so Berkeley is home ground. Offices here range from startups downtown to offices in West Berkeley, many on blocks with permit parking or two-hour limits. We plan the truck position and any short-term permit the city requires, and we move businesses between Berkeley, Emeryville, Oakland and Alameda.
San Jose
The North San Jose and Milpitas corridor and Highway 237 are full of offices with large numbers of workstations. These moves usually run after hours or over a weekend, with dock bookings, COIs and careful packing of monitors, servers and workstations. Larger jobs can need more than one truck, and we time the drive around 101, 280, 87 and 880 traffic.
Example: A tech team moving between two South Bay office parks may have a hundred labeled workstations to bring back up by Monday, so the crews and trucks are sized to finish over one weekend.
Palo Alto
Offices sit along University Avenue, Page Mill Road and in the Stanford Research Park. Downtown, loading space on University Avenue is limited and nearby blocks are permit-parking with time limits, so we plan where the truck goes and any temporary permit before the crew arrives. We also handle short-notice corporate relocations.
Example: A growing company moving out of a coworking space into its own office has monitors, desks and shared equipment that need to stay organized by person and team.
Examples illustrate typical moves; they are not specific customer jobs.
Moving an office in San Francisco, the East Bay or the South Bay? We'll walk the space and send a written estimate.
Office move questions
How far ahead should we plan an office move?
Book one to three weeks ahead, and allow more for larger, multi-floor or phased moves. Building paperwork such as COIs and elevator bookings is the usual reason to start early.
Do you visit the office before giving a price?
Yes. We do an on-site walkthrough before the move date and build the written estimate from what we see.
Can you move us after hours or on a weekend?
Yes. Evening, weekend and overnight moves are common for offices, and we schedule the crew to the window your building assigns.
Can you move us in phases?
Yes. Larger offices can move in stages over several days, so critical teams come back first.
Do you handle moves between floors or within the same building?
Yes. We move offices floor by floor, within one building or between buildings.
Do you take apart and reassemble office furniture?
Yes. Desks, cubicles, shelving units and conference tables are taken apart, moved and put back together to your floor plan.
How should we prepare computers and workstations?
Have your IT team plan the disconnects and back up your data. We pack the computers and monitors, label each to its workstation and move them in a planned order.
Do you move server and network equipment?
Yes, we pack and move server and network gear and time the disconnect and reconnect with your IT team. Setup and configuration stay with your IT team.
How do you keep workstations and files organized?
With a labeled floor plan and a color per department. Every desk, monitor, cabinet and box is tied to a spot in the new office.
Can you coordinate with building management?
Yes. We handle the certificate of insurance, the freight elevator booking and the loading or dock time at both addresses.
What is a COI, and when will our building ask for one?
A certificate of insurance proves the mover carries liability and workers' compensation coverage. Many office buildings ask for one naming the building before a crew can use the elevator or dock. We issue it directly to building management and confirm it's accepted. How mover COIs work
Who does the move, and are you insured?
Full-time ShipShape employees, never subcontractors. We carry general liability, cargo and workers' compensation coverage.
Booking: a written estimate before you book, and at least 48 hours' notice to cancel.
Rates and estimates · Booking policies · Licensing and insurance
Moving a restaurant, retail store, warehouse or another commercial facility? Explore our commercial moving services.
Plan your office move
Tell us both addresses, your headcount or square footage, and the move window your building allows. We'll set up a walkthrough and send a written estimate.