Rigging-Busters is a crew of heavy lab and medical equipment movers in London, Ontario. We rig out, haul and set in place the big units in hospitals, university and private research labs, and food and pharmaceutical plants: steam sterilizers, environmental chambers, emptied lab freezers, process skids and production lines, and the generators and switchgear behind them. Our crew works across London and Middlesex County, either directly for the site or as the rigging crew under your lab mover or general contractor.
Plenty of lab equipment moving companies pack benchtop instruments. We are the laboratory equipment movers for the units a cart cannot carry, so the job is planned around weight, centre of gravity, the route out of the building and the floor it lands on.
- Heavy units only: lab, hospital and production equipment that needs rigging. Benchtop packing, samples and office contents belong with a specialist lab mover.
- Rigging through to levelling: one crew rigs, transports, sets in place and levels each unit, with millwright installation where needed.
- Free estimates, with a quote back within 2–4 business hours.
- Where: London, Middlesex County and the towns around them.
Need a number before we visit? The Heavy Lifting & Moving Calculator shows a rough range at once.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
How We Move Heavy Lab & Medical Equipment in London
Each move follows the same seven steps, whatever the unit:
- What is moving: make, model, weight and footprint of every unit, where it sits now and where it goes, and any transfer form your institution uses.
- Route survey: our riggers measure doors, corridors and freight elevators, check floor loading and plan how floors and walls will be protected.
- Permits and notices: the City of London move permit for wide loads, Middlesex County or MTO permits where the route needs them, and the 72-hour notices the City by-law requires for the largest loads.
- Your preparation: lab staff empty and clean every unit, and services are cut off by your licensed electricians and plumbers or by the vendor.
- Rig-out: units go onto skates, under a hydraulic gantry or up on jack-and-roll, then get braced for the road.
- Haul: on a trailer matched to the load, on the route and at the times the permits allow.
- Set and hand over: we place and level each unit, then your trades reconnect it and your staff or the vendor bring it back into service.
The Gear Behind a Heavy Lab Move
- Low-profile dollies and machinery skates, with floor protection for hospital and lab corridors
- Hydraulic gantry systems to lift a unit off its stand or plinth indoors
- Jack-and-roll when a unit is too heavy for skates alone
- High-capacity forklifts for loading docks and plant yards
- Lowboy and tilt-deck trailers, picked to suit the load and the route
- Our crane or a partner crane when a unit cannot leave through a door or dock
Lab Equipment Transport and Permits in London
London’s Heavy Loads on Roads By-law S-2 requires a permit from the City Engineer for loads over Highway Traffic Act limits, and the permit sets the roads and times. Loads more than 3.66 m wide, 13 ft 6 in (about 4.11 m) high or 25 m long must notify the railways, Fire and Police at least 72 hours before every move and arrange a police escort if one is required. The City’s move permit fees start at a loaded width of 259.08 cm (102 in), and the application needs a certificate of insurance.
Outside the city, Middlesex County issues its own permits for County roads and does not issue overweight permits in March and April. On Highways 401 and 402, which are provincial, the oversize permit comes from the MTO, and we apply at least 5 business days before the move.
Setting, Levelling and Reconnecting in the New Space
At the new room our millwrights set every unit on its floor marks, shim it level and bolt it down where the installation manual calls for anchors. Ontario Regulation 570/05 reserves electrical work done for hire to Licensed Electrical Contractors, which is why power is reconnected by your own licensed electricians; steam, water and gas go back on with your plumbers or the vendor. Calibration, validation and requalification remain with your staff or the vendor.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Lab, Hospital and Production Equipment We Move in London
- Mixers, fillers, cappers, cartoners and other packaging machines from food and pharmaceutical lines
- Steam sterilizers and autoclaves, washer-disinfectors, and cage and rack washers
- Walk-in and reach-in environmental chambers, stability chambers and large incubators
- Ultra-low freezers and lab refrigerators, moved empty
- Bioreactors, fermenters, process skids, tanks and mixing vessels
- The building plant behind them: standby generators, chillers, UPS units, transformers and switchgear
- Surplus heavy equipment, rigged out and loaded for a buyer or a disposal contractor
Who We Work For in London
London combines a large hospital and university research base with a manufacturing economy. University Hospital on Windermere Road sits beside the Western University campus, Victoria Hospital is on Commissioners Road East, and Western Research Parks hosts research and development on its London campus and at its Advanced Manufacturing Park. The City counts about 434 manufacturing establishments, and the London Economic Development Corporation lists agri-food and health and life sciences among its key sectors. We take the heavy equipment for hospital facilities teams, research labs, and food and pharmaceutical producers in the City’s industrial parks, from Innovation Park on Highway 401 to the Trafalgar, Skyway and Huron parks.
Lab Relocations in London: Who Does What
University labs follow their own close-out rules. Western University’s lab transfer guidelines, for example, ask the principal investigator or safety contact to complete a Laboratory Transfer Form before the lab is vacated, and require ovens, refrigerators, freezers, incubators, fume hoods and storage cabinets to be cleaned inside and out. A specialist lab mover packs instruments, glassware and chemicals; your trades disconnect services; our riggers move the heavy units once they are clean and cleared.
Other specialists cover what we do not: cold-chain and specimen couriers, biosafety cabinet certifiers and calibration labs. MRI and other diagnostic imaging systems are de-installed and installed by their manufacturers. For linear accelerators, see LINAC rigging and relocation in Ontario.
Food and Pharmaceutical Production Lines
Before a London line comes apart we photograph it, tag each connection and wrap stainless and food-contact parts. Units travel in the order they will be rebuilt and land on marks taken from the old floor, and production restarts once your quality team has requalified the line. For machine tools, see our CNC machine movers in London; and for whole plants or heavy equipment movers in London, Ontario, on any other job, machinery movers in London and industrial rigging services in London.
Storage: if the new space is late, units already on skids or in crates can wait in storage for days or months. Reagents, samples and anything needing power or refrigeration remain with your own team.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Lab Equipment Moving Cost in London: What Affects the Price
Every London quote is built from your details or a walk-through. What moves the number:
- Size and weight of each unit, and its centre of gravity
- Access at both ends: doors, corridors, elevators, docks and floor loading
- Working hours: after-hours or weekend shifts in hospitals and plants that stay open
- How it is lifted: skates or a gantry indoors, jack-and-roll for the heaviest units, or a crane, ours or a partner’s, with crane time built into the quote
- Route and permits: distance, City, County and MTO permits, police escorts and 72-hour notices for the widest loads, and the March–April limits on County roads
- Add-ons: crates, taking units apart and rebuilding them, and millwright set-in-place and levelling
When you compare bids, check that each covers rigging, transport and set-in-place, and names who does the disconnects and the cleaning. We do not charge for estimates; for a ballpark first, try the Heavy Lifting & Moving Calculator.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Why London Labs, Hospitals and Plants Hire Us
- Riggers, not furniture movers: the method and the gear are chosen for heavy, sensitive units.
- Fast replies: your quote comes back in 2–4 business hours.
- One crew from rig-out to levelling, using our crane or a partner crane when a lift needs one.
- Planned around your operation: after-hours, weekend and shutdown moves in buildings that stay open.
- Permits, notices and escorts arranged for oversize loads on City, County and provincial roads.
- Insured: liability and workers’ compensation insurance (WSIB in Ontario), with a certificate of insurance on request.
A good fit: London hospitals, university and college labs, research park tenants, and food and pharmaceutical plants with anything from a single sterilizer to a whole production line or plant room; general contractors; and lab movers or medical movers who need riggers for the heavy part of a lab relocation.
Not a fit: treadmills and other gym, exercise or fitness equipment; hospital beds and home medical equipment; household and office moves; specimen and sample transport; benchtop instruments, glassware and chemicals that need packing; and imaging system installs, which belong to the manufacturer.
A sterilizer or production line out of service costs a hospital or plant money every day, so we plan London moves to keep downtime short and disruption low.
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Areas We Cover in London and Nearby
We move heavy lab and medical equipment all over London: the hospital and university district around Windermere Road, the south-end hospital and business areas off Commissioners Road, and the industrial parks near Highway 401 and the airport. Beyond the city we cover Middlesex County, St. Thomas and Elgin County, Strathroy, Woodstock, Ingersoll and Tillsonburg, and Stratford and St. Marys. Searching for lab equipment movers near me from one of those towns? The same London crew covers it. We also take lab and medical moves in Windsor: see all our services in Windsor.
Neighbouring cities: Brantford lab movers and lab relocation in Hamilton.
Towns We Serve Around London
| City | Province | Country |
|---|---|---|
| London | Ontario | Canada |
| Aylmer | Ontario | Canada |
| Exeter | Ontario | Canada |
| Ingersoll | Ontario | Canada |
| Lucan | Ontario | Canada |
| Parkhill | Ontario | Canada |
| Port Stanley | Ontario | Canada |
| Saint Marys | Ontario | Canada |
| St. Thomas | Ontario | Canada |
| Strathroy | Ontario | Canada |
| Stratford | Ontario | Canada |
| Tavistock | Ontario | Canada |
| Tillsonburg | Ontario | Canada |
| Woodstock | Ontario | Canada |
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Have These Ready for an Exact Quote in London
A firm London price comes faster when we have these six things. Send them with your quote request; the estimate itself is free:
- The units: make, model, weight and size, with a nameplate photo
- Both sites: which floor, the freight elevator, door and hallway widths, and where the truck can park or back in
- Your institution’s rules: transfer or decommissioning forms, contractor sign-in, infection-control or GMP requirements
- Disconnects: who disconnects and reconnects power, water, steam and gas, and when units will be emptied and cleaned
- Dates: when the units stop running, when the new room can take them, and any shutdown or holiday window
- Pictures: each unit from two sides, plus the path from the room to the dock
or give a call +1-647-846-5179
Other Services in London
Related heavy work in London is listed below, and all our services in London are on one page.
- Heavy Equipment & Machinery Movers in London, ON
- Heavy & Industrial Rigging Services in London, ON
- Forklift Moving Service in London, ON
- CNC Machine Movers in London, ON
Location of our sales office:
759 Hyde Park Rd, London, ON N6H 3S2, Canada 👇
Heavy Lab & Medical Equipment Moving in London: FAQ
Anything heavy enough to need rigging: packaging and filling lines, mixers and process skids, bioreactors and tanks, sterilizers and washer-disinfectors, environmental and stability chambers, big incubators, freezers emptied for the move, and building plant like standby generators, chillers and switchgear. Glassware, small instruments, chemicals and samples are a job for a specialist lab mover, and in London our riggers can work beside one.
Our part is the heavy equipment. University labs close out first: at Western University, for example, the lab’s contact fills in a Laboratory Transfer Form, and fridges, freezers, incubators and fume hoods are cleaned inside and out before the space is vacated. A lab mover packs the instruments and chemicals, and our riggers then take the heavy units out and set them in the new lab.
Planning comes first: the weight, centre of gravity, lifting points, route through the building and floor loading are checked before the crew arrives. Units are rigged with rated slings, rolled on skates or lifted with a hydraulic gantry or jack-and-roll, braced and strapped on the trailer, and placed and levelled at the new site, ready for your trades.
There is no flat rate; each London move is priced from its details. Unit weights and sizes, how easy both sites are to get in and out of, night or weekend work, the lifting method, the route with any City, County or MTO permits, and add-ons like crates or levelling all count. Estimates cost nothing, and our Heavy Lifting and Moving Calculator shows a ballpark first.
Only for oversize loads. London requires a City permit for loads over Highway Traffic Act limits, and loads over 3.66 m wide, 4.11 m high or 25 m long must notify the railways, Fire and Police 72 hours ahead. Middlesex County issues no overweight permits in March and April, and Highways 401 and 402 need an MTO permit. We arrange them.
Yes. Hospitals and research buildings set the rules, and the move is planned around them: who signs our crew in and escorts it, which corridors and doors get floor and wall protection, when the freight elevator is ours, whether work runs at night or on a weekend, and any infection-control or biosafety steps. Your staff decontaminate the equipment before we touch it.
Yes. London lists agri-food and health and life sciences among its key sectors, and its food and pharmaceutical plants run mixers, fillers, cappers and packaging lines. We tag each connection, protect stainless and food-contact surfaces and rebuild the line in order. Your licensed trades reconnect the services, and production restarts once your quality team has requalified the line.
If the new London lab or plant room is not ready, units already on skids or in crates can be stored until it is, for a short or a long gap. Put the sizes, weights and dates in your quote request. We do not store samples, reagents or anything that needs power or refrigeration; those remain with your team or your lab mover.
No. We do not move treadmills or other exercise and fitness equipment, and we do not deliver hospital beds or home medical equipment; a household mover or the equipment supplier is the better call. In London our crew moves heavy lab, hospital plant, food and pharmaceutical equipment that needs rigging, from a single steam sterilizer to a whole production line.
All of London, from the hospital and university district around Windermere Road to the industrial parks near Highway 401 and the airport, plus Middlesex County, St. Thomas, Strathroy, Woodstock, Ingersoll, Stratford, St. Marys and Tillsonburg. Give us the pickup and delivery addresses in your quote request, and we will confirm the crew, the route and any permits.
