Office clearance is not something you embark on without proper planning. In fact, there is a lot of planning and management involved in the clearance of office. If you have no idea how to start, then this guide is for you. This guide will provide you with important tips on where and how to begin.
1. What are the items you want to keep?
One of the first things to do before clearing out is to know the things you want to get rid of and the ones you want to retain. To make matters easier, the items you want to keep or retain should be removed from the premises even before clearance begins. This should be a priority, especially if you will be hiring a clearance specialist to do the clearance. Be sure to take enough time to sort out the items that are still useful or important to you from those that you wish to discard. Not doing this will not make it easy to get quotes from clearance specialists or firms. Furthermore, you may not have enough time to pick out the items that are still useful when clearance begins.
2. When do you expect the office to have been cleared?
You must have set a date when clearance is expected to end. This will help you to work backwards on the set or agreed time. To simplify things, try allowing some more time after the time clearance is supposed to be over. It will serve as a form of contingency plan in the event of the clearance not being completed at the stipulated time. However, you must also know that the bigger the clearance rate, the greater or bigger the contingency.
Normally, the sizes of all properties to be removed determine how long the clearance procedure is going to last. Nonetheless, an average clearance procedure could involve 3 van loads for each day of the clearance. This is usually the case if there is no deadline to meet.
When setting up a date, you should add another week beforehand. This will give the contractors enough time to get their quotes ready and to have their resources ready for the clearance activity. When the clearance specialists are not given enough time to prepare or are expected to carry out a clearance in a short time, it ends up making the whole procedure more stressful than it should be. Furthermore, you may be forced to choose clearance specialists or companies not already booked or busy, and this could mean companies that are not very reliable; plus there is always the chance that deadlines will not be met. Finally, the chances of getting significant reuse will be greatly reduced as the market is not very reliable. 
3. Which clearance company or specialist is better suited for the task
This should only be considered once you have the important items and properties sorted and separated from the rest. When making your choice of companies, there are important tips you have to consider before you settle on one company or specialist. The tip to picking the most suitable company is going by the 4 simple ‘R’s. these ‘R’s include
- Resources
- References
- Rates and
- Rapport
a. Resources:
Always ensure that the company you want to pick has all the required resources for clearance. They should also be familiar with all that is required for a professional clearance activity.
b. References:
Another thing to note is the company’s experience and expertise to be selected. The references of the company are equally important as they will confirm the credibility of the company. Note that all references should be recent and not old.
c. Rates:
The charges of the company will determine if you can afford them or not. When you contact the company, you should get a quote that determines if you go ahead with them or not. Besides that, you should also get an estimate of the full price of the project and how long it will take.
d. Rapport:
You can ask to meet up with the team in charge of operations before you finalise. This would be a very good chance to know how professional and efficient the company is. Also it is also a good chance to build up communication if they end up being your choice.
When all these have been taken into account, a lot of issues can be prevented, and the right measures are taken to ensure a smooth clearance activity.
4. Selling second-hand office equipment or furniture for rebates
It is always a good idea to have the contact of a couple of dealers for second-hand properties, charity organisations, and recycling companies. It is at times like these that they are important as you can have an agreement with them to have the second-hand properties you will be letting go.
Note that the second-hand market for office equipment is slow, and it only moves when there are a handful of properties. So be sure that the number of second-hand office equipment is quite substantial for this to work. Unless the property is of a high value, it is pointless to sell very small amounts of office equipment. For example, it is easier to sell off or give away about 100 pieces of office chairs or desks of similar quality than about 20 or 30 units of chairs of varying sizes and quality.
Furthermore, certain office equipment like IT equipment and heavy electronics can be hard to dispose of as they must only be discarded uniquely.
5. Reporting of waste and compliance
Even if you contact a clearance specialist to help clear out your office, you still have a duty, and that is to make sure that the waste collected from your property is properly disposed of. How do you do this? By ensuring that the company you hired for clearance is certified and licensed for operation. Also, make sure that they have the required safety and health insurance policies to be able to operate.
When clearance begins, they should offer you a note of waste transfer for any method used by them to pick up rubbish from your property. The note contains the date at which waste was collected from your property, the address of collection, and the details of the weight, such as weight or volume. You should get a waste consignment if any hazardous materials are picked up as well.
Items that were given away or transferred do not need a transfer note to be issued. However, you can request a receipt from the receiving party. It should also contain details as stated previously.
If after going through this guide, you feel overwhelmed, you can always call professionals like us at London Rubbish Removal for help. We are professionals for office furniture clearance in London. Give us a call or send an email to book an appointment or to get a free quote from us.
