New Office IT Setup Checklist Template

The first task records whether servers or comms equipment are moving from another site, and whether building systems will use the IT network. Those answers show or hide later tasks.

• Open the project and record the site, move-in date and scope answers — peak-day headcount, whether existing servers or comms kit are moving here, who leads any relocation and who approves go-live
• Survey the building with the landlord’s plans and the fit-out drawings — riser routes, ceiling voids, floor boxes, the room set aside for comms and where the provider’s line enters
• Count the endpoints room by room — data outlets, access points, printers, meeting room screens, phones, cameras and door readers, each marked on the floor plan
• Ask the landlord what the lease allows — drilling, cable routes through shared risers, roof access, out-of-hours working and who signs the provider’s access forms
• Agree with the business what must work on day one — internet speed and resilience, guest Wi-Fi, and which systems can wait a week

• Order the primary internet circuit as soon as the address is certain — dedicated fibre is quoted in weeks or months, and longer when the provider has to dig
• Order a second connection on a different path — another provider or technology, so one damaged cable in the street does not close the office
• Return the landlord access forms the provider sends — in the UK this is usually a wayleave, and an unsigned one quietly moves the install date
• Order network kit and the uninterruptible power supply (UPS) — switches, firewall and access points too, worked back from the date the comms room must be ready
• Arrange a temporary connection if the circuit will be late — a mobile data router or business broadband line, sized for the first weeks

• Specify the comms room’s power, cooling and security — dedicated circuits, cooling sized to the heat load, a lock, and no water pipes overhead
• Size the UPS to the load and the runtime you need — enough to ride through a short outage or shut equipment down cleanly, with spare capacity for growth
• Issue the cabling specification to the installer — Category 6A to the TIA-568 standards, two cables to each access point position, the labelling scheme and the test reports you expect
• Install racks, patch panels and cable management — with space left for the provider’s equipment and a few years of growth
• Collect a certification test result for every link — each outlet labelled to match the patch panel and the floor plan
• Inspect the room before any equipment goes in — temperature, power, earthing, labelling, the lock fitted and construction dust cleared

The building-systems task appears only when the first task says access control, CCTV or other building systems will use the IT network.

• Design the IP plan and VLANs — staff, voice, printers, guest, building systems and management, each with its own range
• Configure and install the firewall and switches from your standard — configuration backed up before anyone relies on it
• Produce a predictive Wi-Fi design, then update it after the fit-out — glass partitions, lift shafts, kitchens and filing walls all change coverage
• Mount the access points and walk a validation survey — record signal and interference in every area against the design target
• Connect printers, meeting room screens and video equipment — on the right VLAN, with a test call from every room
• Set up phones and test emergency calling from the new address — in the US, Kari’s Law and RAY BAUM’S Act require direct 911 dialling and a dispatchable location
• Put access control, CCTV and building systems on their own segment — with the PoE budget checked and the installers’ remote access agreed in writing

These tasks appear only when existing servers or comms equipment are moving from another site, and go to the relocation lead named on the first task.

• List every device that is moving and decide what is not — kit near the end of its support may cost less to replace than to move and insure
• Write the shutdown and power-on order — storage and hosts first on the way up, then directory and DNS, then applications; the reverse on the way down
• Take full backups and prove a restore before shutdown — and keep one copy that does not travel on the same vehicle as the servers
• Photograph and label every cable, port and rack position — so the rack at the new site is rebuilt exactly as it stood
• Book specialist IT movers with transit insurance that covers the real value — confirm anti-static packing, the insured sum and who travels with the kit
• Rack, cable and power on in the agreed order at the new site — check each layer is healthy before starting the next
• Have each service owner confirm their system works — logins, data, scheduled jobs and integrations, recorded before staff rely on them

The go-live approver named on the first task records a decision, and the checklist halts until they do.

• Test from every floor and room before staff arrive — internet, Wi-Fi roaming, printing, phones and the systems the business named as day one
• Fail over to the second connection and back — time both directions and confirm calls and VPNs recover
• Cut mains power to the UPS in a quiet hour — confirm the alerts arrive and equipment holds or shuts down as designed
• Approve go-live — the approver records Approved or Not approved with the test results attached; staff do not move in until they do
• Put someone from IT on the floor for the first morning — the edge cases arrive with the people, not with the testing

• Hand over the as-built pack — floor plan with outlet numbers, rack elevations, the IP plan, cable test reports and circuit references
• Add the site’s devices to monitoring, backup and the asset register — with locations, serial numbers and owners
• Record warranty, support and circuit contract dates — so renewals and minimum terms are known before they bite
• Send the old site’s remaining equipment to decommissioning — servers through their own checklist, everything else through asset disposal
• Review the project 30 days after opening — tickets raised, Wi-Fi complaints and what to change in this template next time