Request for Information (RFI) with Best Answers
REQUEST FOR INFORMATION (RFI)
With Best Answers
1. How will you protect our floors, carpet, marble, walls, doors and elevator lobbies from being damaged? Please be specific.
The answer: Mover states he’ll install extensive wall, floor, elevator entrance and door protection. They should list items such as Polynite (for carpet), Masonite®, Coroflex (or Koroflex—for hall walls), door jamb protectors or “bucks,” and Mat-A-Doors® for the lobby side entrance leading into elevators and main building and office entrance doors including the double reception room doors.
2. Who will be responsible for disconnecting and reconnecting all computer cables and components?
Most movers don’t have experience in reconnecting computer cables. Therefore, their best answer should be that your client should be responsible for performing this task. Another acceptable answer is that they’ll outsource this task to a company that specializes in the disconnect and reconnect. If they allege they do the reconnect, ask them to be specific about their expertise in this area.
3. Specifically, how will you protect and transport our CPU’s, printers, monitors, servers and other sensitive electronic equipment?
Blanket wrapping (using furniture pads) is not the best practice method for moving computers. A better option is to bubble wrap each component with at least two layers of antic-static ½ inch bubble wrap with the bubbles facing the bubbles or by using anti-static Comp-U-Wraps that are filled with the two layers of ½ inch bubble wrap. If they use the tiny pink anti-static bubble wrap bags, hoods or sleeves, they’re worthless unless they’re brand new. Most movers reuse them, and the bubbles are already popped and flat from previous moves thereby affording no protection. The container should be a tri-wall (3 layers of cardboard) speedpak, hamper, or commercial bin or a machine cart, or computer plastic crate.
4. How will you protect and move our paintings and pictures?
Wrapping them in mirror or painting cartons is very labor intensive and expensive. What’s worse, mirror and painting cartons are not effective in protecting them from damage. A better method is to place them on their narrow ends in speedpaks (AKA hampers and commercial bins), with Comp-U-Wraps or cardboard sleeves between them. The containers should be covered with stretch wrap to protect them from rain and snow.
5. Specifically, what paintings and pictures will you move?
The mover typically should only transport company owned paintings and pictures. Movers' insurance doesn’t cover the personally owned paintings and pictures that your clients’ employees own.
6. Who is responsible for transporting our employees’ personal “bric-a-brac” and other personal items?
Just like the personally owned paintings and pictures, movers should never transport your clients’ employees’ personal items.
7. How will these items be transported?
Either you or your mover should provide cloth or canvass shopping bags or cardboard briefcase cartons for your clients’ employees to hand carry these items home.
8. Do we need to totally empty and pack the contents of our lateral file cabinets?
Unless your mover specifies, they will use a Spider Crane®, all the drawers should be totally emptied prior to transport.
9. How will you load your moving vans? Will you stack the furniture floor to ceiling, floor load it, or keep the furniture on the dolly on the floor of the truck?
This is one of the best filters to eliminate the residential movers who dabble in office moves and have little or no expertise in moving office furniture. The best answer is that they’ll keep the furniture on the dolly when they load the truck. (This only applies to local office moves—not long distance.)
10. Do you have ongoing in-house training for your movers? If you do, please describe it and be as specific and detailed as possible.
Probably the most important question to ask. Most movers rely on OJT—on the job (or on your job) training. Supervisors can’t train and supervise at the same time. If they allege they have ongoing training, you’ve got to request proof or a demonstration.
About the Author…
Ed Katz, president of the International Office Moving Institute (IOMI®), has been called the guru of office moving. His innovative and efficient techniques have been featured in The Wall Street Journal. He’s been published in more than 40 other magazines and newspapers.
His book, COMMERCIAL RELOCATION, won the “Award of Excellence—Distinguished Author” by the International Facility Managers Association (IFMA).
IOMI® is not a marketing alliance, a trade association, or a moving company, but an independent, unbiased office moving resource and training organization beholden to no one. It has no members.
IOMI® teaches movers the best practice methods for:
• Minimizing the risk of damage to walls, floors, doors, and elevators during a move. IOMI® Certified Office Movers® and Certified Project Managers® learn the how to install extensive building protection.
• Minimizing the risk of damage to furniture and electronics during a move. IOMI® Certified Office Movers® and Certified Project Managers® learn how to wrap every monitor, printer, CPU, server, and copier with two layers of anti-static bubble wrap (with the bubbles facing the bubbles) instead of pad-wrapping computers with filthy furniture pads.
• Estimating accurately--timing is of the essence on an office move. If the mover doesn’t finish on time, it can cost their customer thousands of dollars of nonproductive downtime. IOMI® Certified Office Movers® and Certified Project Managers® learn an estimating formula that’s based upon man-hours instead of the unreliable method typically used on household moves that’s based on “cube” and “pounds.” The IOMI® proprietary estimating formula is uncannily accurate because it factors in not only volume but unique origin and destination logistics.
How can you verify a prospective mover or project manager is IOMI®-certified? If they can’t produce credentials, check our list of Certified Office Movers® at https://officemoves.com/international-office-moving-institute-iomi-certified-movers/ . If they aren’t on our list, they aren’t IOMI®-trained.
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