Office Move Storage: What to Store and for How Long

A move creates a gap between two offices. You may need to empty the old one while the new one still needs furniture, internet or other finishing work. Most stored items return as soon as the new office is ready.

A refit keeps the same address but clears the working area. Furniture, equipment, signs and suitable records stay elsewhere until the work is done. Everything may then return to the office.

A smaller office cannot hold everything. Some items go straight to it. Others wait while you decide whether to sell, donate, recycle or dispose of them properly.

Before you rent, be clear whether you are moving, refitting or downsizing. Storage ends when the new office is ready or the refit is finished. A downsize needs a decision deadline instead, or spare furniture can become a permanent monthly bill. Make sure everyone knows what must happen before you empty the unit.

Make one inventory before you ask movers or storage companies for quotes. Put every item into one of four groups:

• Move now: Furniture, equipment and boxes going straight to the new office.
• Sell or remove: Items being sold, donated, recycled or discarded.
• Store for now: Useful items the new office cannot take yet.
• Handle separately: Confidential records, devices or materials covered by the company's usual process.

Only the store-for-now group determines the unit size. Count and measure that group, not the whole office. Number every item or box and record its department, contents, destination and who will decide what happens to it.

Use one shared list for every team. Separate spreadsheets make it easy to count something twice or miss a decision. Give every stored item a review date so the list does not keep growing after the move.

A smaller office does not change which records the business must keep. Before clearing the shelves, ask the people responsible for finance, staff records, contracts and customer information. Sort the records into four groups:

• Current records that employees still use during normal work.
• Older records that the business must keep under its current schedule.
• Reference material that still has a clear purpose.
• Records the business has approved for destruction.

Keep current files with the team that uses them. Older records can go into a labelled area if the unit is suitable and authorised employees can reach them when needed. Retention periods depend on the document and the business, so follow the company's current schedule and get professional advice when needed.

For every records box, name an owner and set a review date. The department should know why it is still kept and when to review that decision. Keep the index outside the unit so nobody has to open several cartons to find one file.

The moving truck does not usually determine how long you need the unit. The slowest unfinished part of the move does. It is often one of these:

• Handing back the old office under the existing agreement.
• Finishing the fit-out or repairs in the new office.
• Delivering and installing new or reused furniture.
• Getting the internet, phones and other essential connections working.
• Getting access approval from the new building management team.
• Testing the office before staff return to normal work.
• Making the final decision about spare furniture and equipment.

Ask the person responsible for each task for the earliest date they can rely on. Plan around the latest of those dates, then add a little extra time in case something is delayed. If the rental ends too early, you may have to arrange another move at short notice.

Compare the cost before booking much longer than you expect to need. A monthly rental lets you check the end date again as each job finishes. Put one person in charge of that date and the notice period. They should update the plan when a job is delayed and review it at the weekly move meeting. The rental should not continue because nobody remembered to end it.

Before the new office opens, decide what must come out of storage first. Keep reception furniture, network equipment, daily files and anything needed on the first working day near the unit door.

The date when you must leave the old office is often fixed even when the rest of the move is not. Read the agreement and check:

• How much notice the business must give before leaving.
• The exact date and time for handing back the office.
• The condition the landlord expects at the final inspection.
• Which furniture, signs, fittings or alterations must be removed.
• What must be cleaned or repaired before the inspection.
• The building rules for movers, loading, lifts and vehicles.
• Which keys, access cards, parking passes and other building property must be returned.

Ask the landlord or building manager about moving hours, service lifts, loading areas and vehicle access. Confirm those details before you book the mover. Otherwise, the crew may arrive when the building does not allow moving work.

You may need to start the rental before the new office is ready. The unit must be available when the movers need it and before the old office has to be empty. Put the date you leave the old office, the date the new one opens and the unit access dates on one timeline. Separate calendars can hide a conflict until the final week. Keep the unit until every stored item has somewhere to go.

You can store:

• Desks, chairs, meeting tables, cabinets and shelving.
• Boxed records that employees do not need every day.
• Spare stock, product samples, cartons and packaging.
• Displays, event furniture, signs and marketing materials.
• Properly packed equipment that is waiting for the new office.
• Furniture waiting to be sold, transferred, donated or reviewed.

Keep active files with the team. Follow the company's usual process for staff records, customer information and other sensitive material, including who may see it. Keep cash, company seals, identity documents and original certificates out of the unit.

A storage unit is not a temporary office. If the new office is not ready, arrange another place for staff to work.

Bahrain's summer can affect paper, electronics, wood and fabric. Ask whether the unit controls temperature, humidity or both. Keep things staff need regularly apart from those waiting for the final move, because each group needs a different place inside the unit.

Pack for the storage period, not just the drive across town. Number every box and match it to the inventory. Use labels that still make sense months later. “Finance, closed supplier files, 2025” is more useful than “office papers.”

Keep paper upright in firm boxes, and do not make a box so heavy that its bottom bends. Put one electronic device in each suitable box when practical. Protect screens, keep heavy objects away from them and follow the storage instructions for equipment and batteries.

Photograph furniture before taking it apart. Put the screws and fittings in a labelled bag and attach it to the matching piece. Mark the department and final destination so movers know where each item belongs.

Plan the return order when laying out the unit. Reception furniture, network equipment, daily files and basic staff furniture may come out before spare items. Read our guides to packing for a move and packing and organising a storage unit for the full method.

Sign the rental agreement in the company's name, and make sure the business receives the agreement and invoices it needs. Before signing, confirm:

• Who is authorised to sign for the business.
• Which employees and movers may enter the unit.
• How to give or remove access for an employee or mover.
• The full monthly price and every extra charge.
• The billing date and which business payment methods are accepted.
• How much notice you must give before ending the rental.
• The hours when staff can reach the unit.
• Whether and how the business can change unit size during the office move.

Do not ask an employee to rent the unit personally and take responsibility for company property unless the business has chosen that arrangement. Make sure the access hours fit the move and the working week. Ask what help is available if staff cannot get in outside office hours.

Need a temporary unit while the office changes? See Wadaya's storage units and start with the things that need to wait.

Handing back the old office is a separate part of the move. Empty, clean and repair it as required, then prepare it for inspection. Return all keys, access cards, parking passes and other building property.

Ask each provider to close or transfer utilities and other services. Tell suppliers, customers, banks and insurers the new address, and update any official records. Tell important contacts directly, and arrange a business mailing address rather than assuming every letter will find you.

Keep photographs, inspection records, final bills and written handback confirmation together. On the final moving day, put one person at the old office and another at the new office or unit. One can check the office while the other receives the load.

Keep the unit only until the new office is ready and every remaining item has a destination. Then empty it and end the rental under the agreement.