In a house, the move is about the furniture. In an apartment or condo building, the move is about the building — and the building has rules that will stop a truck cold.
We work in buildings across Gaithersburg, Rockville, Bethesda and Silver Spring every week. These are the requirements that catch people out.
Reserve the freight elevator, in writing
Most mid-rise and high-rise buildings require the freight elevator to be reserved for a specific window, and they only allow one move at a time. Turn up without a reservation on the last Saturday of the month and you may be waiting hours behind someone else's move.
Reserve it as soon as you have a confirmed date, and get the confirmation in writing. Then check whether the elevator needs to be padded and who is responsible for doing it.
Get the certificate of insurance filed early
Nearly every managed building requires a certificate of insurance from the moving company, naming the management company as an additional insured. This is standard and easy — but it takes a day or two to issue and file.
Ask your mover for it at booking, and confirm with the management office that they actually received it. Do not assume no news is good news; a missing certificate is the most common reason a building refuses entry on move day.
- Request the COI at booking, not the week of the move
- Confirm the exact wording the management office requires
- Verify with the office that it was received and approved
- Keep a copy on your phone for move day
Find out where the truck can legally park
Loading dock, side entrance, or street? A 26-foot truck needs real space, and in downtown Silver Spring or Bethesda that space may need a permit. In garden apartment complexes the issue is usually a low garage clearance bar that a moving truck cannot pass.
The distance between where the truck parks and your front door is one of the biggest factors in what an hourly move costs. Find out in advance and tell your mover, so the quote reflects the real carry.
Check the move-in window and restricted hours
Many buildings only allow moves on weekdays, or between fixed hours such as 9 AM to 4 PM, and some prohibit weekend moves entirely. If your lease starts on a Saturday and the building bans Saturday moves, you need to know that now — not the week before.
Ask directly: which days, which hours, and is there a fee or deposit for the move.
Walk-ups: measure the stairwell, not just the door
In older walk-up buildings the doorway is rarely the problem. The landing is. A staircase that turns 90 degrees halfway up has a diagonal clearance far smaller than the width of the stairs, and that is where sofas get stuck.
Measure the turn, and expect that a sectional, a large sofa or a queen box spring may need to come apart. A good crew will plan for that instead of discovering it at hour two.