TOEIC Link Office Relocation and Facilities Vocabulary: The Move-and-Maintenance Cluster Behind Part 3 and Part 4

Nothing disrupts a workplace like moving it. A relocation touches every employee, runs on deadlines, and generates exactly the kind of neutral logistical chatter TOEIC Link loves — a Part 4 announcement about which floor moves first, a Part 3 conversation between a facilities manager and an anxious team lead, a Part 7 email about parking and access cards. The vocabulary is small and repetitive, the tone is calm, and the collocations barely change from form to form.

This article is the focused office-relocation-and-facilities cluster, organized by the relocation timeline — plan, prepare, move, settle, maintain — because that is the sequence ETS uses to build items. Learn the timeline, and you can predict where the answer sits before you finish reading the question.

Why facilities vocabulary keeps returning

Three structural forces keep this cluster weighted on nearly every form.

Reason 1 — a move is a shared event. Everyone in the passage is affected by the same relocation, which lets ETS write multi-speaker Part 3 conversations without inventing any specialized knowledge. A facilities manager, an IT coordinator, and a department head can all speak to the same deadline.

Reason 2 — the logistics are concrete. Floors, desks, access cards, parking spaces, and move dates are countable and checkable. That gives ETS clean material for inference questions ("Why can't the team move on Friday?") the same way the TOEIC Link meetings and scheduling cluster supplies countable time-and-place details.

Reason 3 — the collocations are fixed. You do not do a move; you carry out or oversee a relocation. You do not fix a broken elevator in TOEIC English; you report a fault and someone attends to or services it. TOEIC Link tests the pairing, not the bare noun — the collocation is the unit of memory.

The cluster, organized by the relocation timeline

Memorize each group as a unit tied to one stage of the move.

Stage 1 — planning the move

The timeline opens here, and Part 4 announcements often start at this stage.

Verbs and collocations: plan a relocation, draw up a floor plan, allocate desks, assign parking, coordinate with the building manager, schedule the move.

Nouns: relocation, floor plan, layout, workstation, allocation, premises, tenancy, lease.

The pair premises and facilities is a signature TOEIC Link move — premises means the physical building and grounds, while facilities means the services and equipment inside it. A passage that says the "new premises are still being fitted out" is setting up a question about a delay.

Stage 2 — preparing to move

The active middle, common in Part 3 dialogue.

Verbs and collocations: pack up, label boxes, back up files, disconnect equipment, arrange movers, hand in access cards.

Nouns: packing crate, inventory, mover, removal firm, access card, key fob, security pass.

The contrast pair disconnect / reconnect is heavily tested. A Part 3 conversation often turns on whether the phones and network will be working on the first morning in the new office — and the correct answer names who is responsible.

Stage 3 — the move and settling in

Verbs and collocations: relocate, transport, unload, set up workstations, reconnect equipment, update the address.

Nouns: move-in date, occupancy, common area, breakroom, reception, signage.

Expect a Part 4 announcement that lists a staggered schedule — one floor or department at a time — and a question about which group is affected on a given day.

Stage 4 — maintaining the facility

Once settled, the vocabulary shifts to upkeep, which drives a steady stream of Part 3 and Part 7 items.

Verbs and collocations: report a fault, submit a maintenance request, service the air conditioning, carry out repairs, inspect the premises, attend to a leak.

Nouns: maintenance, upkeep, contractor, janitor, custodian, HVAC, utilities, work order.

The pair maintenance and repair is a favorite tested distinction — maintenance is routine and scheduled, while a repair responds to something already broken. A memo about "scheduled maintenance" implies planned downtime, not an emergency.

The collocations ETS recycles most

These fixed pairings appear across forms. Memorize them as whole units.

• oversee the relocation — a manager is in charge of the move
• fit out the office — install furniture, fixtures, and equipment
• report a fault — notify facilities of a problem
• submit a maintenance request — the formal ask for a repair
• out of service — an elevator or machine is temporarily unusable
• access is restricted — a badge or pass is required to enter

When any of these surfaces in a passage, the tested question is almost always about the consequence — who is affected, when it will be resolved, or what to do in the meantime.

How this cluster shows up by part

• Part 3 (conversations): a facilities manager and an employee negotiating a desk, a parking space, or a repair timeline.
• Part 4 (announcements): a staggered move schedule, a notice that an elevator is out of service, or a reminder to hand in old access cards.
• Part 7 (reading): an email chain about a delayed move-in date, or a building notice pairing scheduled maintenance with alternative arrangements.

Because facilities scenarios so often overlap with HR logistics — new-hire desks, onboarding a relocated team — this cluster pairs naturally with the TOEIC Link recruitment and hiring cluster, where the same neutral, deadline-driven tone applies to people rather than premises.

A five-minute drill

Do this once and the cluster locks in.

1. Write the five timeline stages across a page: plan, prepare, move, settle, maintain.
2. Under each, list three verbs and three nouns from memory.
3. For each of the six recycled collocations above, write one sentence naming a likely consequence.

If you can produce out of service → use the stairs / a delay without hesitating, you will hear the answer before the question finishes on test day.

The takeaway

Office relocation and facilities vocabulary is small, neutral, and rigidly collocated — which is exactly why TOEIC Link keeps returning to it. Organize the words by the move timeline, memorize the fixed pairings as units, and always read for the consequence. The building is just a backdrop; the tested point is who is affected and when it gets resolved.