The elevator is the one part of a move the crew does not control and the one that produces the most expensive claims. This checklist is for the crew lead, from the dock to the last box.
Before the truck leaves the yard
- Confirm the building’s elevator booking and whether the building installs its own protection. More buildings now do; see the building policy template they may be using.
- If the building does not, load the kit for the cab size. A fitted kit for the three or four cab sizes you see most often covers most residential towers.
- Blankets and tape are a backup for lobby corners, not elevator protection.
At the building
- Photograph the cab: every wall, the floor, the ceiling, both jambs, the sill. Timestamped. Thirty seconds that settle every argument.
- Install protection before the first load: walls and corners, floor, entrance jambs and header, ceiling if anything rides on end.
- Check that buttons, the position indicator and the emergency phone are visible. Residents will ride the car.
- Photograph the installed protection.
During the move
- Nothing leans on the entrance. Jambs are the most frequently hit surface in the building.
- Appliances and furniture are padded on their own corners even in a protected cab.
- Protection stays in until the last load. No “we are almost done.”
After
- Remove protection, wipe down, fold and load.
- Photograph the cab again. Same angles.
- Note any pre-existing damage you photographed on the way in, on the job sheet, and have the building sign it.
What to carry
A rigid, compression-fit kit stores flat in the truck and goes in in five minutes with no tools. Door Guard builds cab liners, door liners and floor liners to measurements; movers typically order for their most common cab sizes and carry two sets. Our sister site explains how to measure a cab in ten minutes.
Why it pays
One claim for a stainless panel is $3,000 to $7,000. A kit is a fraction of that and lasts for years. Buildings also notice a crew that arrives with real protection; it is the kind of thing that gets a mover on the approved list. See the page for contractors and movers or get a quote.
