Top 10 Tips for Purchasing Office Furniture
For most of our clients, the office move and/or design, is not their full time job. To assist, we created the top 10 tips for purchasing office furniture.
Get the Office Floor Plan
Ask for a floor plan or Auto Cad drawing. Typically, you can get this from your building manager, commercial realtor, or architect. The dealer will need this to draw out the furniture you choose in your space. If you have a couple of measurement on your lay-out, that will help verify to double check to make sure everything is correct. (We once had an AutoCad was incorrect and off by 4 feet.) We created a visual for cubicle sizes and conference room calculator to assist in your planning.
Desks Face The Door
When Purchasing desks, most folks prefer to face the door or aisle versus having their back & computer exposed. Also, make a note of the location of electrical & network connections. Are there windows or columns? All these things could play into where the desk is positioned.
Sample Office Chairs
Sampling office chairs is important whether you are buying for yourself or the entire office. Take a visit to the dealer’s showroom. For a larger office, the dealer may let you sample a few chairs for a week or so. You may not find a chair that everyone in the office loves, but at least you can build some support in the process. If you have folks with chronic back pain, we believe this is the best office chair for lower back pain.
Know your Power Plan
Will you power off the ceiling, wall, columns, or core drills in the floor? Make sure you discuss your options with the electrician and communicate this to the dealers prior to finalizing the lay-out. Depending on how you are running power, the dealer may need to order after the market power poles or additional base feeds.
Install Power Before Furniture
Most companies arrange to have an electrician and network folks on-site during installation. If you are installing cubicles or benching stations, the power feeds can be installed prior to the installation at the beginning of the installation. You may choose to have the dealer get these to your electrician prior to your cubicle installation. The installers will start the install by setting up the panels. Once the panels are standing, your network technicians can run the cable thru the panels. Then, after the cubicle installation is complete, the network technicians can complete their work.
Designing around a Column
Where are the columns? Most building will have some columns in great locations for building support, but inconvenient locations for your office furniture. Make sure your lay-out has taken in account where the columns are located.
What is the building access?
Does your building have a dock? Is there a freight elevator? If you have both of these things, you are in good shape. If you do not have either and the furniture will need to be carried upstairs, make sure you have notified your installers. They will need additional personal to avoid injuries. And, if you have purchased a very large item like a large conference table, you might double check that it will fit in the elevator.
Hire Professional Installers
Cubicles & desks are not always intuitive. Every manufacturer is different. Think twice before installing the furniture yourself. If you want to take this on due to cost, we recommend hiring at least 1 experienced installer to assist. Check with the crew you hire on their insurance. Most installers carry $1 – $2 million coverage.
How to Save on Office Furniture Installation Cost
Can the furniture be installed during business hours? Does the work need to be done by a union crew? This will impact your install quote. If you have a small order, are you flexible on the timing of your delivery? Your flexibility for when the install company is in the area can save you some of the trip costs. Does the installation company have the correct install address? We have talked to many installation companies that say once a day they are sent to the old location vs. the new location. Make sure they have the right address and your cell number in case they need to reach you.
Expected on Unexpected on Office Furniture Moves
Expect the unexpected. No matter how well you plan, something is always going to come up during an install. A truck may break down, your boss changes the way she wants her office, a snow storm arrives, but know it will all get resolved. If there is new construction going on, stay on top of dates from your contractor. Dates can change & throw chaos into the process. Keep your dealer in the loop as things change, so they can coordinate with your installation team. It could same you some headaches, heartburn, & thousands of dollars.
Office Design Tips
Join our email list to receive our 5 Best Office Design Tips!
For most of our clients, the office move and/or design, is not their full time job. To assist, we created the top 10 tips for purchasing office furniture.
Get the Office Floor Plan
Ask for a floor plan or Auto Cad drawing. Typically, you can get this from your building manager, commercial realtor, or architect. The dealer will need this to draw out the furniture you choose in your space. If you have a couple of measurement on your lay-out, that will help verify to double check to make sure everything is correct. (We once had an AutoCad was incorrect and off by 4 feet.) We created a visual for cubicle sizes and conference room calculator to assist in your planning.
Desks Face The Door
When Purchasing desks, most folks prefer to face the door or aisle versus having their back & computer exposed. Also, make a note of the location of electrical & network connections. Are there windows or columns? All these things could play into where the desk is positioned.
Sample Office Chairs
Sampling office chairs is important whether you are buying for yourself or the entire office. Take a visit to the dealer’s showroom. For a larger office, the dealer may let you sample a few chairs for a week or so. You may not find a chair that everyone in the office loves, but at least you can build some support in the process. If you have folks with chronic back pain, we believe this is the best office chair for lower back pain.
Know your Power Plan
Will you power off the ceiling, wall, columns, or core drills in the floor? Make sure you discuss your options with the electrician and communicate this to the dealers prior to finalizing the lay-out. Depending on how you are running power, the dealer may need to order after the market power poles or additional base feeds.
Install Power Before Furniture
Most companies arrange to have an electrician and network folks on-site during installation. If you are installing cubicles or benching stations, the power feeds can be installed prior to the installation at the beginning of the installation. You may choose to have the dealer get these to your electrician prior to your cubicle installation. The installers will start the install by setting up the panels. Once the panels are standing, your network technicians can run the cable thru the panels. Then, after the cubicle installation is complete, the network technicians can complete their work.
Designing around a Column
Where are the columns? Most building will have some columns in great locations for building support, but inconvenient locations for your office furniture. Make sure your lay-out has taken in account where the columns are located.
What is the building access?
Does your building have a dock? Is there a freight elevator? If you have both of these things, you are in good shape. If you do not have either and the furniture will need to be carried upstairs, make sure you have notified your installers. They will need additional personal to avoid injuries. And, if you have purchased a very large item like a large conference table, you might double check that it will fit in the elevator.
Hire Professional Installers
Cubicles & desks are not always intuitive. Every manufacturer is different. Think twice before installing the furniture yourself. If you want to take this on due to cost, we recommend hiring at least 1 experienced installer to assist. Check with the crew you hire on their insurance. Most installers carry $1 – $2 million coverage.
How to Save on Office Furniture Installation Cost
Can the furniture be installed during business hours? Does the work need to be done by a union crew? This will impact your install quote. If you have a small order, are you flexible on the timing of your delivery? Your flexibility for when the install company is in the area can save you some of the trip costs. Does the installation company have the correct install address? We have talked to many installation companies that say once a day they are sent to the old location vs. the new location. Make sure they have the right address and your cell number in case they need to reach you.
Expected on Unexpected on Office Furniture Moves
Expect the unexpected. No matter how well you plan, something is always going to come up during an install. A truck may break down, your boss changes the way she wants her office, a snow storm arrives, but know it will all get resolved. If there is new construction going on, stay on top of dates from your contractor. Dates can change & throw chaos into the process. Keep your dealer in the loop as things change, so they can coordinate with your installation team. It could same you some headaches, heartburn, & thousands of dollars.
Office Design Tips
Join our email list to receive our 5 Best Office Design Tips!
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