Lab rigging is the planned movement of laboratory equipment that is too heavy, too large, or too unbalanced to move safely with standard carts and dollies. A rigging crew uses specialized equipment and a written plan covering the route, lift points, and how to protect the building. If an instrument will not fit through a doorway, exceeds a freight elevator's capacity, or has to cross stairs, a loading dock, or a floor with weight limits, it most likely needs rigging.
Lab Rigging vs. Lab Equipment Moving
Most laboratory instruments move as standard lab equipment. A trained crew prepares, pads, and loads benchtop analyzers, centrifuges, and incubators onto carts. Rigging starts where weight, size, center of gravity, or the route makes standard handling unsafe for the equipment, the building, or the people moving it.
Most lab relocations include both. A project might move several hundred standard items and a handful of rigged pieces, and those few rigged items often set the schedule. Our lab equipment moving services cover the standard items, and rigged pieces are planned as a separate workstream within the same move.
Signs Your Equipment Needs Rigging
Equipment usually needs a rigging plan when one or more of these conditions apply:
- Weight: The item exceeds what a crew can safely handle with standard carts, or what a standard cart is rated to carry.
- Size: Its dimensions exceed a door, corridor, turning radius, or elevator cab along the route.
- Balance: It is top-heavy or has uneven weight distribution, which raises the risk of tipping.
- Manufacturer requirements: The manufacturer specifies lift points, transport brackets, or shipping locks.
- Route: The path includes stairs, ramps, a loading dock without a leveler, or an opening such as a window.
- Sensitivity: The equipment tolerates only limited tilt or vibration during transport.
Floor-standing analytical systems, large freezers, optical tables, environmental chambers, and autoclaves are common candidates for a rigging review.
Building Constraints That Shape a Rigging Plan
The building often matters as much as the equipment. A rigging plan has to work at both the origin and the destination.
Freight Elevator Capacity and Cab Size
The elevator's rated capacity must cover the equipment, the rigging gear, and the crew riding with it. Cab depth, door height, and door width also limit what fits. Request the elevator's capacity plate details and interior dimensions from building management early.
Floor Load Limits
Heavy equipment concentrates weight on small contact points such as feet, casters, or skates. Older buildings converted to lab space may have lower floor ratings than purpose-built lab buildings. When a load approaches the floor's rating, building management may require a structural engineer's review or load-spreading plates.
Doors, Corridors, and Turns
Measure every door, hallway, and corner along the route, not just the entry door. A clear opening that fits the equipment straight on may not fit it through a turn. Removing doors, door closers, or ceiling tiles is sometimes the simplest fix, and it requires building approval.
Loading Docks and Scheduling
Many lab buildings in Boston, Cambridge, and the surrounding area are multi-tenant buildings with shared docks and freight elevators. Building management often assigns dock windows, requires a certificate of insurance (COI), and limits heavy moves to off hours. These rules affect the schedule, so confirm them before setting a move date.
Protecting Finished Surfaces
Rigging routes typically need floor protection, wall and corner guards, and elevator pads. New construction at the destination raises the stakes, since new flooring and finishes may be under a contractor's warranty.
What a Rigging Plan Includes
A rigging plan is the written method for moving a specific piece of equipment from its current position to its final position. A complete plan covers:
- Equipment details: weight, dimensions, center of gravity, and the manufacturer's lift points and transport requirements.
- Route survey: every door, elevator, ramp, and floor surface along the path at both sites.
- Method and gear: how the item will be lifted, moved, and set, and which equipment will be used at each stage.
- Building protection: floor protection, load spreading, and any doors or fixtures to remove and reinstall.
- Sequence and timing: when the item moves relative to the rest of the lab, and which building windows are reserved.
- Roles: who is responsible for the move, the utility disconnects, the OEM steps, and building approvals.
- Contingencies: what happens if an elevator is down, a dock window shifts, or a measurement is wrong.
If a move requires a crane, the building and the city may require a separate lift plan, permits, and street use approvals.
What to Gather Before a Rigging Site Survey
Facilities and lab managers can shorten the planning process by collecting this information before the site survey:
- Equipment list with make, model, and serial number for every item that may need rigging
- Manufacturer site preparation or relocation guides for those items
- Floor plans for both the current and new locations
- Freight elevator capacity and interior dimensions at both sites
- Loading dock details, including height, leveler, and reservation rules
- Building rules for move hours, COI requirements, and floor protection
- A list of utilities to disconnect, such as power, water, gas, exhaust, and data, and who will handle each one
- Target dates for the move and for equipment to be back in service
Coordinating Rigging With Building Management and OEMs
Rigging rarely involves only the mover. Building management approves elevator use, dock time, and any changes to doors or finishes. Equipment manufacturers may need to disconnect an instrument, install shipping locks, or secure internal components before moving it. Moving some instruments without the manufacturer's involvement can affect warranty or service coverage.
The smoothest projects assign one person on the client side to own each relationship. We cover this handoff in more detail in our guide to coordinating equipment vendors during a lab move.
Where Rigging Fits in a Full Lab Relocation
Rigged equipment usually moves in dedicated windows rather than alongside general packing. Heavy items often go into the new space before benches and casework are finished around them, or after utilities are installed and verified. In a phased move, rigging windows often anchor the phase schedule. Our guide to structuring a phased relocation explains how to sequence these windows, and the 6-month laboratory relocation checklist shows where rigging decisions fall on the overall timeline.
Plan Your Rigging Early
Planning to move oversized or heavy equipment? Learn more about our lab rigging services, or request a lab moving quote and include your equipment list so we can flag rigging items from the start.
