In short
How do you prepare an office relocation?
By treating it as an organisational project before it becomes a move: brief, search and test fits, design and budget, authorisations, tendering, works, move, support, then measurement. The timeline is built backwards from the end of the current lease, including authorisation lead times and the works council consultation.
- Processing times: 3 months for a building permit (other than a single-family house), 5 months if it concerns an ERP, 4 months for a works authorisation in an ERP without a permit.
- Works council (50 employees or more): one month to give its opinion failing an agreement, two with an expert.
- Space-use review at 3, 6 and 12 months after moving in.
The stages
- Brief: future headcount, ways of working, space requirements (briefing).
- Search and test fits on the shortlisted floors (before signing).
- Design of the fit-out and works budget.
- Authorisations where needed: building permit, prior declaration (déclaration préalable), works authorisation for a building open to the public (ERP).
- Contractor tender and contracts.
- Works, handover (réception), workplace maintenance file.
- Move: inventory, sorting, archives, IT, labelling, installation.
- Support during the first weeks, then measurement.
The timeline is built backwards
Start from the end date of the current lease and work back: processing times for authorisations (three months for a building permit other than for a single-family house, five months if it concerns a building open to the public, four months for a works authorisation in an ERP without a permit), works council (CSE) consultation (one month in the absence of an agreement, two if an expert is appointed), contractor tender, duration of works, notice periods. The timeline guide.
The move
Inventory of reusable furniture, sorting and archives, team-by-team move plan, IT and telephony, signage, rules of the new building. Settling in is prepared too: who answers questions in the first week, how to report a problem.
Frequently asked questions
Can existing furniture be reused?
Often in part. An early inventory shows what can come along, what can be refurbished and what has to be replaced; the furniture brief takes this into account from the design stage.