Every office refit ends the same way. A store room fills up with monitors, a few dozen desktops, a rack that nobody wants to touch, and boxes of cables that have been moved three times already. Then somebody is told to deal with it.
There are two questions worth answering before anyone quotes you a number. What is actually in the pile, and what happens to the data on it.
What a company usually has
Desktops and laptops, monitors, servers and rack gear, network switches and routers, UPS units, printers and copiers, desk phones and phone systems, and cabling. Cabling is the part people forget, and it is often the part that carries real weight.
Non-working equipment is fine. Almost nothing that comes out of an office clearance is bought for reuse, so a dead machine and a working one of the same model are close in value.
Where the value actually sits
Not in the plastic. The value in IT scrap sits in a few places: the boards, the power supplies, the copper in cabling, and the aluminium and steel in chassis and racks.
That is why a rack of servers and a stack of flat monitors of the same weight are not worth the same. Servers are dense with boards, heatsinks and power supplies. Monitors are mostly plastic, glass and a small board. Older CRT monitors are worth less than the effort of moving them.
Photocopiers and large printers are somewhere in the middle: heavy steel frames, motors, and a small amount of board.
Data comes first, not last
Nothing should leave your building until you have decided what happens to the drives. There are three normal answers, and any of them is fine as long as it is a decision and not an oversight.
- Your IT team pulls the drives and keeps them. Simplest, and the one most companies choose.
- The drives leave with the equipment and are destroyed, with the serial numbers listed.
- The drives are wiped and the certificate is kept on file.
Say which one you want before collection day, not on it. If you have a compliance or audit requirement, tell us at the quote stage so the paperwork is set up from the start.
How a clearance runs
An asset list helps, even a rough one typed into a spreadsheet. Model, rough count, and whether it powers on. Photos of the room and the rack fill in the rest.
From there: a price for the lot, an agreed date, and labour that suits the building. Most offices want it done outside working hours or over a weekend, and towers usually need a service lift booked and a security pass arranged. Everything is weighed and you get the list back with the weights on it.
Cabling is the part everyone forgets
A refit usually pulls out more structured cabling than anyone expects. Floor boxes, patch panels, riser bundles and the loops sitting above a suspended ceiling from the last two fit outs. It is copper, and by weight it is often worth more than the desktops it connected.
The catch is that cabling has to be pulled properly. Cutting it at the wall and leaving the run in the ceiling means the copper stays in the building and the next contractor deals with it. If the ceiling is open for the refit anyway, that is the cheapest hour anybody will ever spend on it.
Say at the quote stage whether the cabling is coming out. It changes the number and it changes how much labour turns up on the day.
What we do not handle
Lamps and fluorescent tubes, chemical waste, and toner in bulk. Those need a licensed waste handler and it is not the same job. Batteries we do take, including UPS strings, but they are quoted separately because they move separately.
If you are clearing an office or a server room in Abu Dhabi, send a few photos and a rough count. You will have a number the same day, and a date that fits around your building rather than ours. Tell us what is on site to start.
Common questions
What happens to the hard drives?
Whatever you decide before collection. Your IT team can pull and keep them, or they can leave with the equipment and be destroyed with the serial numbers listed, or be wiped with a certificate kept on file. Tell us at the quote stage so the paperwork is set up from the start.
Do you buy equipment that does not work?
Yes. Almost nothing from an office clearance is bought for reuse, so a dead machine and a working one of the same model are close in value.
Do you take old monitors and printers?
Yes, though flat monitors are mostly plastic and glass so they carry little value by weight. Printers and copiers do better because of the steel frames and motors. Old CRT monitors are usually worth less than the cost of moving them.
Can we get a record of what was collected?
Yes. Send an asset list, even a rough one, and you get it back with weights against it after collection. If you have an audit or compliance requirement, say so early and the documentation is arranged to match.
