Local service guide
Detroit office relocation: Moving and Setup
For office relocation in Detroit, hire a mover against a written inventory and setup plan, confirm access at both buildings, and assign utility and IT responsibilities before booking. Ask each bidder to price the same packing, transport, assembly and placement tasks. For DTE-served premises, distinguish a routine service move from a renovation or electric-service upgrade, which requires a separate request. Agree on the business functions your team must test before staff return. [1]
Define the moving and setup responsibilities
Walk through the office with a room-by-room inventory. Include desks, chairs, cabinets, printers, monitors, network equipment and boxed files. Mark items that need dismantling or specialist handling. Give destination rooms names that match your floor plan, then label furniture and boxes with those names. Photograph equipment and furniture before packing.
Ask each bidder to identify who will pack, transport, assemble and place the listed items. Request insurance documentation for the proposed work and written damage-claim procedures. Agree on custody of confidential files and equipment containing business data. Keep keys, access credentials and the equipment you need during the move with your team.
Request comparable commercial moving quotes
Request job-specific commercial moving quotes using the same inventory and access notes. Ask whether the price is fixed or hourly, when billing starts and ends, and how the mover charges for travel, packing materials, stairs, waiting, storage and assembly. Specify any evening work or phased delivery you want bidders to include.
Ask each mover to explain how a changed inventory or missed elevator reservation would affect the bill. Name the person authorized to approve extra work and require a price before that work starts. Budget for your own IT support, cleaning, overlapping occupancy and staff downtime alongside the moving contract. Compare exclusions as well as totals.
Confirm the route through both buildings
Get moving procedures from both property managers. Confirm loading space, entrance dimensions, freight-elevator reservations, work hours and any insurance paperwork they request. Measure the route for your largest items, including turns and doorways. Send photographs to the mover and arrange a building contact who can resolve access problems during loading.
For winter loading, agree on who checks and clears the outdoor route, protects entrances and authorizes a delay. National Weather Service Detroit monthly snowfall normals for 1991–2020 are 8.9 inches in December, 14.0 in January and 12.5 in February. Use these historical averages as planning context, then check the forecast near your move date and confirm rescheduling terms. [3]
Resolve utility arrangements before delivery
DTE directs customers starting, stopping or moving service within its territory to schedule an order online. For new construction or a business renovation, it directs customers to call 800-338-0178 or submit a new-electric-service request. Customers seeking an electric-service upgrade should call the same number. Ask your landlord and electrical contractor to assess the destination's service against your planned equipment before you schedule setup. [1]
DTE's Automatic Transfer of Service program provides continuous electric or gas service at enrolled rental properties. When a tenant requests a stop, DTE keeps the meter on and transfers responsibility to the landlord. Ask the property manager to confirm enrollment, the account holder during the handover and your own service-start arrangements. Verify power at the destination before your IT team begins testing. [2]
Approve the workspace after testing
Name the people who authorize equipment shutdown and approve the restart. Ask your IT provider to verify backups, document connections and plan equipment transport. Confirm internet installation and testing arrangements before moving network equipment. Write separate responsibilities for furniture placement, cable reconnection, system configuration and business-function testing.
Check delivered items against your inventory and photograph damage or incomplete assembly. Have your team test internet access, business applications, phones, printing and shared files according to your reopening needs. Record each unresolved task, its owner and a completion date. Confirm who will return to correct furniture placement or finish assembly before closing the moving job.
Detroit monthly snowfall normals for moving-access planning
Local details that affect your job
Use the correct DTE service-request route
For an office served by DTE, schedule routine start, stop or move orders online. DTE routes business renovation and new-construction requests through 800-338-0178 or its new-electric-service request process; it routes electric-service upgrades through the same telephone number. Ask your landlord and electrical contractor whether your proposed setup needs an upgrade before committing to the equipment delivery date. [1]
Confirm the landlord's transfer enrollment
DTE Automatic Transfer of Service keeps service on at enrolled rental properties when a departing tenant requests a stop, transferring responsibility to the landlord. Landlords can enroll through Manage My Properties, an enrollment authorization form or Landlord Customer Care at 800-482-8720, option 2. Ask your property manager to confirm the premises' enrollment and billing arrangements before relying on power during the tenant handover. [2]
Match the contract to your office move
| Your situation | Scope to request | Confirm before booking |
|---|---|---|
| Your team will pack and manage computers | Transport, furniture handling and placement | Packing deadline, protection responsibilities and assembly exclusions |
| Desks need dismantling and rebuilding | Named dismantling and assembly tasks | Who labels parts, supplies tools and checks completed furniture |
| Staff need to work during the relocation | A phased move coordinated with your IT lead | Department sequence, access windows and restart approval |
| You need to start or move DTE service | A routine utility order alongside the move | Schedule the start, stop or move order online |
| The destination needs an electric-service upgrade | Utility and contractor coordination before setup | Call DTE at 800-338-0178 about the upgrade |
Your hiring checklist
- Inventory furniture, files and equipment; assign packing and dismantling responsibilities.
- Send bidders the same inventory, floor plan and access photographs.
- Confirm loading arrangements, elevator reservations and building paperwork at both offices.
- Assign utility orders, internet preparation and equipment-service assessments.
- Agree on waiting charges, extra-work approval and weather rescheduling terms.
- Label items by destination room and keep essential working equipment with your team.
- Verify backups and assign shutdown, reconnection and restart approval.
- Inspect delivery, test business functions and document unfinished work.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does office setup include reconnecting computers?
Ask the bidder to list the tasks. Request separate entries for equipment placement, cable reconnection, configuration and testing. Assign technical work to your IT provider unless you have agreed on a named person and scope within the moving contract.
How should I compare moving budgets?
Send bidders the same inventory and access notes. Request itemized packing, transport, assembly, waiting and storage terms. Include your own IT support and occupancy expenses, then compare the complete scope and rules for extra charges.
Can I rely on the previous tenant's electricity staying on?
Confirm the arrangement with the landlord. DTE Automatic Transfer of Service keeps service continuous at enrolled rental properties when a tenant stops service and transfers responsibility to the landlord. Confirm enrollment, billing responsibility and your own service order before equipment testing. [2]
How should I prepare for winter loading?
Assign route clearance, entrance protection and delay approval before moving day. Detroit's published snowfall normals describe historical monthly averages for 1991–2020, rather than conditions on your booking date. Check the forecast near the move and keep rescheduling terms in writing. [3]
Sources and scope
This guide combines the sources below with practical planning guidance. Figures apply to the stated geography and period; request a written quote for your property.