Office Decommissioning in the Bay Area
We take out the furniture, tear down the IT, remove the signage, sort the recyclables, route the donations, and hand the space back broom-clean. That covers end-of-lease exits, downsizing, M&A, restaurant and retail closures, and post-construction cleanouts. We've been in San Jose for 36+ years. We scope the work to your lease.
Office Decommissioning and Your Lease
When a company leaves a commercial space, the lease usually says some version of: return the space in the condition you received it, less normal wear and tear. That means furniture out, IT and AV gear pulled, signage off the walls, and the floor swept. Some leases also require abandoned cabling pulled or tenant improvements restored, and that part is contractor work.
That's decommissioning, and it's the difference between getting your security deposit back and explaining a holdover charge to your CFO. Most operating teams don't have time to run it themselves.
We know Bay Area buildings: the docks, the freight elevators, the COI requirements. We've run commercial moves and storage here since 1990, and the crews that pack an office for a relocation run the decommission when you're leaving instead.
What's Included in a Decommission
We scope to your lease language and your building's move-out rules.
Furniture, Fixtures & Equipment Removal
Workstations, private office furniture, conference and break-room fixtures, lobby and reception pieces, signage. Disassembled, padded, loaded, and routed to donation, recycling, disposal, or our warehouse if you're keeping it.
IT & AV Teardown
Server racks, monitors, phones, and AV gear. We disconnect and pad the equipment, then send it to your new site, into storage, or out for recycling.
Sort, Recycle, Donate, Dispose
Items still in good shape go to local nonprofits. We separate metals, electronics, cardboard, and clean wood for recycling. Only what can't go anywhere else goes to the landfill, and we work to keep that pile small.
Broom-Clean Handoff
Empty space, swept floors, debris removed, ready for the landlord walk-through.
Common Decommissioning Scenarios
End of Lease
Vacating an office, lab, or retail space. Leases usually require the furniture out and the floor broom-clean. We read the lease language and scope to it.
Office Downsizing
Hybrid work means some companies need less square footage. Excess workstations, conference furniture, and break-room equipment have to go somewhere: donation, recycling, or our warehouse if you might want them back.
Mergers, Acquisitions, Closures
Company is consolidating or shutting a location, and the operating team is busy with the actual deal. We run the cleanout end to end so your team can stay on the deal.
Restaurant, Retail or Hospitality Closure
FF&E, fixtures, kitchen equipment, and signage, pulled carefully. What you're keeping moves to your next location or into our warehouse. The rest goes to donation, recycling, or disposal.
Post-Renovation or Post-Construction Cleanout
Construction debris, leftover materials, demo waste, packaging, scaffolding. Telehandlers, flatbeds, and box trucks for the heavy stuff; crews for the manual sort and load.
Facilities Yard Cleanouts
Schools, campuses, municipal yards, light-industrial sites with years of accumulated equipment, materials, and odds and ends that need to be sorted, hauled, and disposed of properly.
Our Decommissioning Process
There are five steps, each one priced and scoped explicitly so you know what you're paying for and what we're responsible for.
Walkthrough & Scope
We walk the space with you, look at the lease language if relevant, photograph what's there, and identify anything that needs special handling: IT gear, hazmat, refrigerants, anything sensitive.
Written Project Quote
Crew size, days, equipment (forklift, telehandler, flatbeds, box trucks), and dump, recycle, and donation routing, all priced explicitly.
Sort & Remove on Site
Crews work zone by zone: disassemble, pad, stage, load. We tag items for donation, recycling, disposal, or storage as they come out, and stage IT equipment separately for your new site or for recycling.
Route to the Right Destination
Donations go to local nonprofits. Metals, electronics, cardboard, and clean wood go to recyclers. Disposal comes last, for what can't go anywhere else.
Broom-Clean Handoff
Final sweep, floor protection pulled, and the space ready for the landlord walk-through.
School District Facilities Yard Cleanout
Years of accumulated material in a South Bay district's facilities yard, sorted, loaded, and hauled out in a single day.
- 4,000+ pounds of mixed material: sand, aluminum, concrete, wood, tractor attachments, iron fences, pallets
- Equipment on site: 35-foot forklift plus two 35-foot flatbed trucks and trailers
- Loaded, restored, and hauled in 7 hours: single-day project
Project details from a Silicon Valley Moving & Storage cleanout job for a Bay Area school district.
Comparing Cleanout Options
How our decommissioning service compares with other ways to clear an office.
1-800-Got-Junk / national haulers
How SVM compares
They're built for residential and small-load junk. We're built for commercial scope: FF&E, IT, and multi-day projects. Our trucks and crews are sized for it.
National 3PL / facilities firm
How SVM compares
National firms bring scale and uniform process across many cities. We bring 36+ years of Bay Area building knowledge: your dock, your freight elevator, your COI requirements, your municipal disposal rules. Better fit for single-site or regional projects.
DIY with general contractor
How SVM compares
GCs are great at construction. Cleanout work (sorting, donation routing, recycling) usually isn't their core. We handle the cleanout side so the GC can focus on restoration work.
Self-service dumpster + your team
How SVM compares
A roll-off and a few interns works for small loads. A full office means disassembly, heavy lifting, and sorting, and our crews and trucks are set up for that work.
| Alternative | How SVM compares |
|---|---|
| 1-800-Got-Junk / national haulers | They're built for residential and small-load junk. We're built for commercial scope: FF&E, IT, and multi-day projects. Our trucks and crews are sized for it. |
| National 3PL / facilities firm | National firms bring scale and uniform process across many cities. We bring 36+ years of Bay Area building knowledge: your dock, your freight elevator, your COI requirements, your municipal disposal rules. Better fit for single-site or regional projects. |
| DIY with general contractor | GCs are great at construction. Cleanout work (sorting, donation routing, recycling) usually isn't their core. We handle the cleanout side so the GC can focus on restoration work. |
| Self-service dumpster + your team | A roll-off and a few interns works for small loads. A full office means disassembly, heavy lifting, and sorting, and our crews and trucks are set up for that work. |
Project-Based Pricing
Decommissioning costs depend on square footage, FF&E volume, IT scope, what your lease requires, and how much can go to donation and recycling instead of disposal. After a walkthrough we send a written quote with crew size, days, equipment, and routing all itemized so you can compare it line-by-line against other proposals.
Decommissioning Questions
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What's actually included in 'office decommissioning'?
It's the umbrella term for returning a commercial space to the condition your lease requires when you leave. Our scope: FF&E removal, IT and AV teardown, signage removal, sorting for donation, recycling, and disposal, and a broom-clean handoff. We read the lease before quoting.
How is decommissioning priced?
Project-based, not per pound or per item. The variables are crew size, number of days, equipment required (forklift, telehandler, flatbed, box truck), and the disposal/donation/recycle routing. After a walkthrough we provide a written quote with all of that itemized so you can compare apples to apples against other proposals.
How fast can you start?
It depends on the size of the job and our crew and equipment calendar. Give us your exit date at the walkthrough and we'll schedule the work backward from it.
Can you donate items rather than just throwing them out?
Yes, and we prefer to. Office furniture, kitchen equipment, supplies, and anything else in working condition can go to local nonprofits and schools instead of the dumpster. We don't promise zero waste, and the diversion rate depends on what's there and how usable it is.
Do you work outside San Jose and the South Bay?
Yes. Our service area covers the full Bay Area (San Francisco, Peninsula, East Bay, South Bay, North Bay) and we'll travel further for the right project.
Request a Decommissioning Quote
Walk us through the space, the lease, and your exit date. We'll send a written project quote with crew size, days, equipment, and routing itemized.
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USDOT 1962166 · Interstate USDOT 70719 · CAL T 188960 · Bekins Interstate Agent · 36+ years serving the Bay Area · CMSA · BBB
Often paired with office moving, business storage, and junk hauling.