Office liquidations and decommissions can be similar but are slightly different. When a business is winding down its operations and planning to close a facility or shut down for good, it will require the decommissioning of its office spaces. The idea behind a decommission is that everything is removed from the existing space and either sent elsewhere, stored, or needs to be disposed of. Office furniture liquidations on the other hand can come about from a business needing to dispose of furniture assets that still have value. For instance, if a company is moving to a new furniture standard for its offices, then the existing items could be sold to another business if they are relatively new and in good shape. Below are a few things to consider when taking on a decommission or liquidation.

Before the project starts….

  • Have a clear timeline of when your furniture needs to be removed from the space; if there is a large inventory of furniture on-site, consider a phased timeline as needed.

  • Know when the team would have access to a freight elevator if needed as well as what time items can be removed from the building. If there are other businesses in the space, the landlord may require the work to be done outside of normal business hours which is considered as overtime for many installers.

  • Find out if the installer team that is performing the teardown is going to need to provide a COI to building management prior to work being started.

  • Know that for liquidations, most assets are sold to used furniture dealers at a significant discount. Do not expect to receive top dollar for even lightly used product.

  • Liquidations where furniture goes to another business is a great way to avoid sending products to a landfill.

Liquidations and decommissions are fairly straightforward. An initial site visit by a PM would be wise just so that they can get eyes on the space, the product, and then figure out how they would remove it from the building.

Site Visit

In this site visit, the PM for your installation company that is quoting the work can verify some of the following:

  • Is the site ready for product teardown?

    • This is important because some areas may not be ready for product removal and returning to site at a later date after a majority of the product has been removed, will likely lead to a change order from the installer.

  • Is there parking or an area available for the installers to load the trucks?

    • Depending on how much furniture is being removed, the installers may want to set aside a specific area to load up their trucks faster and more quickly.

  • Are the front or rear doors big enough to allow access for some parts that are large or preassembled?

    • Larger products could have trouble fitting through the space to be removed if there is not enough clearance.

  • Have all personal items and AV technology been removed from the furniture items?

    • It’s typical for any desks, tables, or filing cabinets to be empty and ready to be removed.

Most if not all site visits are charged based on a per-visit basis and those charges can vary depending on what you as the customer would like the PM to verify while they are there.

Teardown Day

Prior to the start of any work, make sure you’ve covered the following:

  • COI or Certificate of Insurance - Many building management teams will request that their tenants obtain a Certificate of Insurance from the vendors they are using. This assures the building management that the vendors their tenants are using have the right insurance in case they damage something. Ask your building management for a sample copy or a letter of the COI requirements to give to your vendors if they require it.

  • Site Contact - You have established a site contact who will be there to allow the installation team entry into the space, be available for any questions, and eventually sign off on the labor once it is completed.

  • You’ve scheduled the electrician - Depending on your state and its requirements, an electrician must be present to disconnect any power connectors to a live connection. Most installers and installation companies are not qualified to unplug a device from a live power conduit. The Project Manager on your project should have a general idea of when certain areas will be done so you can schedule an electrician to be present to make the connection.

Are we done yet? Almost….

Return Trip

Last but not least, we quickly cover a “Return Trip”. A return trip could be utilized if there are any additional items that could not come out with the rest of the items. These trips are sometimes built into the labor quote, quoted separately, or billed as T&M in a furniture installation project.