In 2011, Dave Davis, started Outsourcedestimating.com to provide freelance estimating services to clients in the Washington D.C. area. These clients had been forced to trim their pre-construction departments as a result of the economic downturn at the time. Despite the downturn, estimating services were still needed and it made sense for contractors to outsource construction estimating to a freelance construction estimator to supplement their estimating and pre-construction departments on an "as needed" basis, as these contractors still needed to bid projects.