Planning for a Move and Other Important Factors

The quality and thoroughness of your up-front planning will determine how successful your move will be.  The better you perform in this important aspect of the event, the better the end result. All tasks and subtasks need to be assembled and addressed in excruciating detail.

If a successful business must move to a new location, the move must be made quickly and efficiently so that business can continue to run smoothly and interruption to customers can be avoided.

It is necessary to figure out who is in charge of the move, the smaller the committee, usually the better. Get as much cooperation as possible. Announce the move early on, as preparation takes plenty of time…..dates for reviewing competitive bids must be set, flowcharts prepared, diagrams and blueprints must be drawn up, deadlines must be set and met and a checklist is absolutely essential.

After you’ve calculated the cost of doing it all yourself (your lost time and the advantages of a smooth relocation), you may wish to consider an outside professional or buying relocation services and products.

Relocation vendors are businesses that sell services or products to companies that plan to expand or move. Some of these services and products include all security, electronic, communications and office equipment, including furniture, financial services like insurance or loans, designers or architects, commercial real estate brokers, movers and relocation consultants.

An efficient move can be accomplished by a relocation coordinator who is a successful contract manager. This means someone who works well as a team member and is practical and flexible.

Good contract management can be broken down into 3 steps:

    1. Contract Planning: understanding and controlling who is hired and what they are supposed to do.
    1. Contract Formation: specifying the vendors, your needs and conditions and forming agreements.
  1. Contract Administration: handling and monitoring the commercial contract to its end.

Once you’ve expressed your wants to the relocation vendors, allow them to get on with their part of the job without unnecessary interference. However, pay only when you feel all contractual obligations have been met. Treat all quality vendors fairly, but do not overlook minor errors or infractions. This leads to disputes and eventual claims. The best contract is one that clearly states each party’s’ obligations and expectations over a certain period of time.

When writing a moving contract, most shippers and carriers base their pricing structure and negotiations on Tariff 400H. This outlines specific charges that occur during an average move, special conditions and the insurance surcharge. The Household Goods Carriers Bureau publishes a large document called the 104-D which is another price schedule explaining all exceptions and changes of the standard charges. But some of these exceptions might wind up costing the shipper more. So to avoid this, it is best for the shipper to state directly where the discount applies. Another good idea is for the shipper to try to “freeze” all prices that were agreed upon and to protect the contract’s payment terms. Extending the payment schedule could save on earned interest and earn percentage points in discount.

Companies can choose damage payment based on either a dollar value or a per-pound basis. Terms for insurance coverage should be negotiated: request full replacement for damaged items up to $50,000.00 at no extra charge. Review the carrier’s insurance coverage and negotiate charges for storage in transit. If an employee’s new home is not ready, their household goods must be stored by the van line. Tariff 400 provides for 90 days of storage, but since it is less expensive than permanent storage, request storage for up to 180 days instead.

Sometimes carriers use outside companies for servicing appliances. Request a spending cap in order to keep these third-party servicing costs reasonable.

To ensure timely and efficient execution of contractual obligations, penalties could be instituted if, say, the deadlines of pick-up and delivery were not met. Rewards can sometimes work as well, as in some sort of incentive program.

There are many details you and the moving committee must oversee:

We encourage you to view our checklist of things that must occur for your event to be considered successful.

If you have any other questions or concerns, it may be beneficially to speak with qualified real estate attorneys in New Jersey.