Frequently Asked Questions

Moves have costs one way or another. The disruption and downtime of a move has a cost, which is reduced with a project manager who specializes in move management. When project management falls to staff, their progress on their regular work and organizational goals slows down, which has a cost. Temporarily augmenting your group with someone who's focusing solely on the move is the better value most of the time. Get in touch to discuss your situation.

Earlier is always better. For new construction and remodels, the design team will need an equipment list with utility requirements and dimensions. The move project manager is brought on board to create this equipment list before detailed design begins. Lining up long lead-time items is also key to a smooth move, such as the technicians who provide technical assistance for certain pieces of lab equipment—they can get booked up several months in advance. No client has ever started to plan “too early” for a move!

Yes, absolutely. Offices are often part of lab relocations, and sometimes office moves on their own are big or complex enough to benefit greatly from a move project manager. Clients outside of the life science industry have hired Lab Moves Northwest to manage their office relocations.

Yes, critical materials are moved with special care and consideration. Samples stored in cryo freezers, -80° freezers, or refrigerators and cold rooms will be kept within the acceptable temperature range. There are different ways to manage and reduce risk that are discussed when developing the best plan with the client.

The best way to prevent damage during a move is to have things well packed. For fragile and sensitive equipment, this means involving a technician to prepare it and pack it (e.g. removing delicate parts and sometimes crating it). For smaller equipment, manufacturers sometimes provide guidance and send specialized boxes so that the primary user can prep and pack it. Coordinating this technical assistance from multiple companies is a significant part of managing the move and ensures that specialty equipment is moved successfully.

No, Lab Moves Northwest is a move project management consulting firm that plans extensively and oversees many vendors supporting the move, including the selected moving company.

A construction project manager is focused on delivering a new or remodeled space; a move project manager is focused on ensuring a seamless occupancy of new space or moves within an existing space.

An asset list is a great starting point for the all-important equipment list; more information usually needs to be added to an existing list, though, such as utility requirements, dimensions, origin and destination locations, and notes about whether it needs vendor assistance for prep or set-up/calibration. This level of detailed information is necessary to ensure that everything in the destination space is ready and that the move goes smoothly.