Service area
Licensed civil engineers and a licensed land surveyor based in Chico, working in Butte County and the northern Sacramento Valley first, and elsewhere in California by arrangement.
American Engineering is a land surveying and civil engineering firm based in Chico, California. We work in Butte County and the northern Sacramento Valley first, and take projects elsewhere in California by arrangement.
Our team includes licensed civil engineers and a licensed land surveyor. We work for property owners, builders, architects and design teams, title and escrow officers, public agencies and prime contractors.
For a local project, the first question is where the parcel sits: inside a city or town, or in the unincorporated county. That decides which office reviews the work and which checklist applies. Send the address or APN and we will confirm both before work starts. The drive times below show how far each place is from Chico.
Coverage
Approximate road times from Chico to the places we serve, grouped in bands.
Durham, Cohasset, Forest Ranch, Paradise, Magalia, Oroville, Biggs and Orland.
Gridley, Willows, Red Bluff, Yuba City and Marysville.
Redding, Sacramento, Placer County and projects elsewhere in California. Send the location and scope first, and we will tell you whether we can take the project on.
These drive times are estimates, taken from online route calculators and map distances. The calculators can differ by 5 to 14 minutes on the same trip, and real times vary with route and traffic. A drive time is not a promise of when a crew can be on site.
Local requirements
Which checklist applies depends on where the parcel sits: inside a city or town, or in the unincorporated county.
Inside city limits, the City of Chico's Form 30 asks for a plot plan showing the outline of the assessor's tax parcel and all existing and proposed buildings. Plan details must include parcel dimensions, building setbacks from all property lines, distance between buildings, off-street parking, driveways, sewer lines or septic tank and leach field locations, the percentage of the lot covered by buildings, the drawing scale and a north arrow.
On a tight lot, start with a boundary survey so setbacks are measured from surveyed lines. See plot plans for building permits.
In the unincorporated county, outside any city or town, building permits go through Butte County Development Services, which sets its own site plan requirements. They vary by project type, so we work from the County's current checklist for your permit.
Well and septic permits in the unincorporated county go through Butte County Environmental Health. A new home on a lot without public sewer also needs a septic system design.
Chico's Form 30 notes that a project may also need other applications, such as grading, encroachment, and stormwater and erosion control, depending on its type, scope and location. Whether a grading permit applies depends on the agency and the amount of earthwork, so we confirm the current rule for your parcel before design starts.
Design starts from a topographic survey. See grading plans.
The City of Chico is covered by the statewide Small (Phase II) MS4 stormwater permit, which carries post-construction runoff rules for qualifying new and redevelopment projects. Where plan check asks for them, we prepare the stormwater calculations.
Construction that disturbs one acre or more, or is part of a larger common plan of development that does, needs coverage under the statewide Construction General Permit and a SWPPP. See SWPPP services and QSP programs.
FEMA's preliminary flood maps for Butte County and the City of Chico showed new flood zones in the north Chico area around Rock Creek, Kiefer Slough and Nord. The appeal period ran from December 3, 2025 to March 3, 2026. FEMA has since made the maps final: its Federal Register notice of August 21, 2026 sets January 8, 2027 as their effective date.
If a building there is newly mapped in, an elevation certificate records its elevations and can support a request to FEMA for a Letter of Map Amendment.
Parcels inside the Town of Paradise or the City of Oroville follow those agencies' own checklists. The Town of Paradise residential building permit checklist, for example, asks for a survey completed by a land surveyor or civil engineer licensed in land surveying.
Agencies update their checklists, and requirements vary by project. We prepare what the agency's current checklist requires; the agency decides whether a submittal is complete and whether to approve it.
Past work
Two of our case studies are in or near Chico. Each page sets out our scope and the public records behind the project.
Designs, calculations, plans and specifications for a City of Chico project to install a trash capture device on an existing storm drain that discharges into Little Chico Creek. Read the Normal Avenue case study.
Topographic surveys, culvert sizing calculations, and culvert replacement and erosion control plans for 18 stream crossings along 2.4 miles of unpaved Centerville Road in the Camp Fire burn area. Read the Centerville Road case study.
Rebuilding after the 2024 Park Fire? Around Cohasset and Forest Ranch, we offer boundary and corner surveys, topographic surveys, plot plans for the building permit, and grading and drainage plans. For rebuilds in Paradise, Magalia and other Ridge communities, see Paradise & the Ridge.
Our people
One Chico firm for the survey, the plans and the construction staking.
They sign the surveys, maps and plans we prepare. Meet the team.
Two of the team, Whyatt Nixon and Nicholas Quedens, are from Paradise and graduated from California State University, Chico.
A project can move from the first boundary and topographic survey to plans, permits and construction staking on the same survey control.
We start with what you plan to build and what your city, county, title company or lender requires, then confirm the scope, deliverables and assumptions in writing before work starts.
Yes. The unincorporated county, including foothill communities such as Magalia, Cohasset and Forest Ranch, is part of the area we serve first. Building permits there go through Butte County Development Services instead of a city, and well and septic permits go through Butte County Environmental Health. A new home on a lot without public sewer also needs a septic system design.
It depends on where the parcel sits. Inside Chico city limits, building permits go through the City of Chico Building Division, which uses its Form 30 for house and ADU plans. In the unincorporated county, and in the cities of Gridley and Biggs, they go through Butte County Development Services. Parcels in the Town of Paradise or the City of Oroville go to those agencies. A record of survey or corner record goes to the county surveyor, wherever the parcel is. Send the address or APN and we will confirm the agency and its current checklist before work starts.
By arrangement. Sacramento is roughly 1.5 to 2 hours from Chico by road, and Redding roughly 1 hour 20 minutes to 1 hour 30 minutes (estimates), so we take projects there case by case. Send the location and what you need, and we will tell you whether we can take it on.
Yes. FEMA's preliminary flood maps for Butte County and the City of Chico showed new flood zones in the north Chico area around Rock Creek, Kiefer Slough and Nord. FEMA has since made the maps final, and they take effect on January 8, 2027. Check your parcel with the local floodplain administrator or on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center. If a building is newly mapped in, an elevation certificate records its elevations and can support a Letter of Map Amendment request where the lowest ground next to the building is at or above the base flood elevation.
Use the contact form or call (530) 682-7679. Include the site address or assessor's parcel number (APN), what you plan to build, buy, sell, divide or permit, any agency checklist or comments, and any date you are working toward, such as a permit submittal or escrow closing. Mention any existing surveys, title reports or plans, and we'll ask for copies.
Last reviewed .
Two nearby areas have their own pages. For a specific service, start from one of the four service groups.
Surveys and plans for rebuilding in Paradise, Magalia and nearby Ridge communities, and what the local checklists ask for.
Land surveying and civil engineering in Oroville and south Butte County, and where projects there are filed.
Topographic, boundary and ALTA/NSPS surveys, records of survey and corner records, legal descriptions, construction staking and elevation certificates.
Parcel and subdivision maps, lot line adjustments and mergers, feasibility studies, and planning and entitlement support.
Site layouts, grading plans, improvement plans for streets, storm drains and sewer extensions, septic system design and metal building foundations.
Stormwater calculations, erosion and sediment control plans, SWPPP preparation and SWPPP inspections for construction sites.