From Signed Lease to First Day in the Office: Your Complete Move-In Checklist
The lease is signed. Now the real work begins. Here's how to get it right.
You've done the hard part. You found the space, survived the negotiations, and signed your name on a lease that commits your business to the next several years of its life. There's a moment — right after the ink dries — that feels like the finish line.
It isn't. It's the starting line of a new race.
Between lease signing and your team's first productive day in the new office lies a compressed, high-stakes period of coordination, decision-making, and logistics that can make or break the entire investment you've just made. Get it right and your team arrives to a space that works, feels good, and signals that leadership has its act together. Get it wrong and you're dealing with missing furniture, dead internet connections, and a team that's distracted by an environment that doesn't function.
This is your complete guide to the move-in phase — from the day the lease is signed to the first morning your team sits down and gets to work.
Phase One: The First Two Weeks After Signing
The period immediately after signing is when the foundation gets laid. Decisions made now determine everything that follows.
Appoint an Internal Project Lead
If you don't already have someone in your organization who owns this project — someone whose primary job for the next 60 to 90 days is making the office setup happen — appoint that person now. This shouldn't be you as the founder or CEO. You have a business to run. It should be a senior operations person, office manager, or chief of staff who has the authority to make decisions and the organizational capability to coordinate multiple vendors simultaneously.
If you don't have this person internally, consider hiring a commercial project manager or move management consultant. They cost money, but they save more than they cost.
Request All Building Documentation
Within the first week, get from your landlord or property manager:
Building rules and regulations (hours of operation, freight elevator access, move-in procedures, contractor requirements)
Contact information for all building systems vendors — HVAC service company, electrical contractor, security system provider
The certificate of occupancy and any existing permits for the space
Floor plans in digital format (AutoCAD or PDF) — you'll need these for your build-out
Engage an Architect or Space Planner
Unless you're moving into a completely turnkey space, you'll need someone to design the build-out and produce construction drawings. The complexity and cost of this varies enormously: a simple space plan that reconfigures furniture and adds a few walls might cost $3,000 to $8,000. A full architectural engagement for a complex custom build-out can run $30,000 to $75,000 or more.
Your design partner will also be your translator to the contractor — the person who turns your vision into specifications that can be permitted and built. Choose someone who has experience with commercial interiors, not just residential or retail design.
If your landlord provided a TI allowance, review the allowance terms and scope of approved work with your architect before finalizing the design. You don't want to design something you can't fund.
Get Your Contractor Aligned
Most landlords require that build-out work be performed by licensed, insured contractors who have been approved by the building. Get the landlord's contractor requirements upfront and confirm that your preferred contractor meets them.
Establish a construction timeline with your contractor early and work backwards from your target move-in date. Build in buffer — construction projects almost always run longer than planned. If you're targeting a move-in on the first of the month, plan your construction to complete 10 to 14 days earlier. Use that buffer for punch-list items, cleaning, and furniture delivery.
Get your contractor to pull all required permits before work begins. This is not optional. Unpermitted work can be ordered demolished and redone at your expense.
Phase Two: The Build-Out Period
Once construction is underway, your job shifts to monitoring progress, making decisions quickly when issues arise, and coordinating the parallel workstreams that need to complete alongside construction.
Set Up Your IT Infrastructure Early
The biggest mistake companies make during the build-out phase is treating IT setup as something that happens after construction. It doesn't. It has to happen during construction — or you'll be ripping out newly installed walls to run cable.
Work with your IT provider or managed services company to finalize:
Cabling plan: Where do data drops go? Every desk, every conference room, every common area that needs connectivity needs a data drop specified on the floor plan before the walls go up.
Internet provisioning: Contact your ISP to initiate service well before move-in. Business-grade fiber installations can take 4 to 8 weeks, sometimes longer. Do not assume you can order internet on move-in week.
Server room or networking closet: Confirm the location, power requirements, cooling requirements, and physical security of your networking hub.
Access control: If you're installing electronic door access — key fobs, badge readers — this infrastructure needs to be roughed in during construction.
Conference room AV: Screens, speakers, cameras, and control panels for conference rooms need mounting points, conduit, and power installed during construction. If you spec this after the fact, it's expensive and ugly.
Get your IT provider into the space during the build-out, walking the floor with your contractor, so everyone is coordinated before the drywall goes up.
Finalize Your Furniture Order Early
Lead times for commercial furniture are longer than most business owners expect. Quality contract furniture — the kind built for commercial use — typically has 6 to 12 week lead times from major manufacturers. Custom pieces can take longer.
Order your furniture within the first two to three weeks after signing your lease, targeting delivery for one to two weeks before your move-in date. This gives you time to address any damaged pieces, back-orders, or wrong items before your team shows up.
For your conference rooms in particular, don't wait until the last minute. Conference room tables are heavy, awkward to maneuver, and often require professional installation. They need to arrive when the building's freight elevator is available — not on a Saturday morning with a hand truck.
Register Your New Business Address
Update your business address proactively and on a clear timeline. The list is longer than most people realize:
Secretary of State registration (if your business address is your registered agent address)
IRS and state tax authorities
Business banking and financial institutions
Business licenses and permits
Client contracts and service agreements
Vendor and supplier accounts
Insurance policies
Your website, Google Business profile, LinkedIn, and other digital presence
Email signatures and marketing materials
USPS mail forwarding from your old address
Give yourself at least 30 days for address updates. Some government registrations require processing time. And don't forget to set up mail forwarding from your old address — business mail has a way of arriving at old locations for months after you've moved.
Phase Three: The Two Weeks Before Move-In
The final two weeks before move-in are the most intense. You're coordinating furniture deliveries, IT setup, cleaning, movers, and your team's transition simultaneously. A detailed day-by-day calendar for this period is not overkill — it's necessary.
Coordinate the Logistics Timeline
Build a move-in calendar that works backwards from your first day of occupancy. Key milestones to sequence:
Construction punch list complete: At least 10 days before move-in. The punch list is the final list of items that need to be completed or corrected by the contractor. Walk it carefully with your project lead and architect. Don't release the contractor's final payment until the punch list is resolved.
Deep cleaning: After construction and before furniture delivery. Construction generates dust that settles on every surface. A commercial cleaning company should deep-clean the entire space before any furniture arrives.
IT infrastructure testing: At least one week before move-in. Your IT team should have internet connectivity established, all data drops tested, all conference room AV functional, and access control programmed. Find out what doesn't work while you still have time to fix it.
Furniture delivery and installation: Three to five business days before move-in. This gives time to deal with damaged pieces, missing components, and layout adjustments.
Moving day: Your team's existing equipment, personal items, and any existing furniture that's coming with you. Coordinate with your commercial movers at least three weeks in advance. Confirm building move-in procedures — freight elevator reservation, loading dock access, required insurance certificates from the moving company.
Brief Your Team
Your team should not show up on day one wondering where to sit, how to connect to the network, or who to call if something doesn't work. Brief them before the move.
Send a clear communication that covers: the new address and directions, parking and transit information, the new WiFi network name and password, the first day parking or commute incentive if you're offering one, what to bring versus what they'll find at the new office, and who to contact for any issues.
If possible, schedule a brief optional walk-through of the new space a day or two before the official first day. Letting people see the space before they're expected to work in it takes the edge off the transition anxiety.
Plan a First-Day Moment
This is optional, but it matters more than you might think. Your team has just gone through a transition — even a positive one creates disruption and adjustment. A simple gesture on the first day acknowledges the milestone and resets the energy.
It doesn't need to be elaborate: breakfast catered in, a handwritten note at each desk, a team lunch to celebrate the new chapter. Something that says: we're aware this is a moment, and we're glad to be here together.
The move to a new office is one of the most tangible signals of growth and momentum a business can give its team. Make it feel like the milestone it is.
The Complete Move-In Checklist
Use this as a reference throughout the process.
At Signing:
Appoint internal project lead
Collect all building documentation
Engage architect or space planner
Begin contractor vetting and approval process
Weeks 1–2:
Finalize space plan and construction drawings
Permit applications submitted
Furniture ordered (8–12 week lead times)
IT provider engaged and cabling plan finalized
ISP contacted for service installation
Address update process started
During Build-Out:
Construction progress monitored weekly
IT infrastructure installed in parallel
AV and access control roughed in
Furniture delivery scheduled with building
Movers booked
Two Weeks Before Move-In:
Construction punch list completed
Space deep-cleaned
IT infrastructure tested end-to-end
Conference rooms functional
Access control tested
Team briefed on new address and logistics
One Week Before Move-In:
Furniture delivered and installed
IT issues resolved
All address updates submitted
USPS mail forwarding established
Moving company confirmed with building
Move-In Day:
Professional movers complete equipment transfer
IT team on-site for connectivity issues
Team walk-through and orientation
First-day moment executed
Week One:
Catch remaining issues and address them quickly
Collect team feedback on what's not working
Confirm all mail and deliveries routing correctly
Celebrate
The New Office Is a Beginning, Not a Destination
The physical space you've created isn't the point. The point is what your team does inside it — the problems they solve, the relationships they build, the work they create. A great office removes friction and adds energy to that work. It signals investment in the people who show up every day.
Done well, your new office will be the backdrop to some of your company's best years. The effort you put into the move-in phase is what makes that possible.
Get the details right. Then get out of the way and let your team do their best work.
Atory supports business owners through every phase of the commercial real estate journey — from finding the right space to successfully settling in. Learn more at atoryhub.com