Getting furniture into an apartment: lifts, loading docks and strata

Before you order a sofa for an apartment, check four things: the lift, the path from the lift to your door, your strata's rules for moving in (the lift booking, the loading dock, the hours), and what Triple J's delivery page says, because a delivery to an apartment block can stop at the building entrance. Here is the check, in that order.

1. Measure the lift, not just the door

A sofa that fits through your front door still has to fit in the lift. Measure three things in the lift car: the door opening (width and height), the inside of the car (width, depth and height), and the diagonal from a bottom corner of the door to the top far corner inside. A long piece goes in on its end, on the diagonal, so the diagonal is the number that decides.

Then measure the lobby doors, corridor width and turns, and your front door's narrowest point when open. Write the smallest number down. That is the width the piece has to pass.

The first rule in Choosing a sofa that lasts on this blog is the same one: measure the width of the wall, and the doors, hallways and stairs the sofa has to pass through.

2. Flat pack or one piece?

A flat-packed bed or tallboy arrives in boxes that are smaller than the piece. The product page says so, as the Augusta bed frame does: "Flatpack, assembly required." A sofa, a lift chair or a solid timber dining table arrives as one piece, and that one piece has to fit the lift and the turns. If the lift is small, choose the pieces that come flat, or a sofa that comes in sections, and read the "Dimension" line on every page against the smallest number you wrote down.

3. Ask the building before the truck arrives

Most apartment buildings have rules for moving large items in, set by the strata committee or the building manager. The usual ones: the lift has to be booked for the move, with padding or a curtain hung inside it; deliveries come through the loading dock or the car park, not the lobby; and moves are allowed only in set hours, often weekdays. Some buildings ask for a bond for the lift. Ask your building manager for the rules in writing, book the lift for the delivery window, and find out where a truck can stop and for how long. The removalists cannot do any of this for you, and a truck that cannot stop goes away.

4. What Triple J's delivery page says

The delivery page is short. These are its lines that matter for an apartment, as written:

• "Small items will be delivered by a courier for faster service and a more economic freight charge. Tracking detail will be provided ASAP once dispatch has been scheduled."
• "Mid to large item will mostly be delivered by furniture removalists. They will contact you by text a day before delivery. No tracking detail can be provided."
• "If it's an apartment block or a unit, delivery people might not be able to enter the building to deliver the order to the front door. Please call us if any questions once you have placed an order."
• "Order will be dispatched between 3 to 10 days when it is in stock."
• "Delivery turnaround time is 2 to 7 days by courier, 5 to 15 days by furniture removalists."

Read the third line twice. A removalist delivery to an apartment block may stop at the building entrance if the removalists cannot get in. The page asks you to call once you have placed the order, and that call is where you say the floor, whether there is a lift, the lift's booked hours, where the truck can stop, and the dock or lobby code. Triple J's number is 02 9790 2588.

The text the day before is your cue to confirm the lift booking and tell the building manager. No tracking is given for removalist deliveries, so the text is the only notice you get. Keep that day free.

5. When it arrives

The page also says: "Please do not sign any paperwork if/when an item arrives in a damaged box. You must notify us about any damage within 5 working days, or we will not accept any responsibility." In an apartment the box may sit on a dock or in a lobby before you see it. Look at every box before you sign, and before it goes in the lift.

The short version

Measure the lift's diagonal and the narrowest door. Pick flat-packed pieces if the lift is small. Get the building's moving rules in writing and book the lift. Call Triple J after you order with the floor, the lift and the hours. Keep the day after the text free, and check every box before you sign.