Service area
Land surveying and civil engineering in Oroville and south Butte County
From our base in Chico, we prepare subdivision maps, improvement plans, construction staking and SWPPP programs for Oroville projects, and boundary surveys, septic designs and plot plans for south-county owners.
A Chico firm that works in Oroville
American Engineering is a land surveying and civil engineering firm based in Chico that works in Oroville and the south Butte County communities around it, from subdivision maps and improvement plans for developers to boundary surveys and septic designs for owners.
We have no Oroville office. Our licensed civil engineers and licensed land surveyor work from Chico, and our service area starts with Butte County and the northern Sacramento Valley; projects elsewhere in California are by arrangement. The Chico & Butte County page covers the wider area.
Past work
Work we have done in Oroville
Besides the two case studies below, we have prepared surveys, improvement plans, construction staking and final maps for residential subdivision phases near Oroville, for a residential builder.
Local agencies
Where Oroville and county projects get filed
The counter depends on where the parcel lies, not on its mailing address. An Oroville address can sit outside city limits, and Thermalito has neighborhoods on both sides of the line.
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Inside Oroville city limits
City of Oroville
City Hall, 1735 Montgomery Street. On the City's application list, Planning takes tentative parcel and tentative subdivision maps; Public Works takes lot line adjustments, parcel mergers, reversions to acreage, encroachment permits and erosion permits; Building takes building permits.
Since November 5, 2024, the City's applications and permits have been available online.
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Unincorporated Butte County
Butte County Development Services
Planning applications, such as tentative subdivision and parcel maps, and building permits for parcels outside city limits, including Palermo, Berry Creek, Yankee Hill, Concow and the parts of Thermalito outside the city.
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Septic systems and wells
Butte County Environmental Health
202 Mira Loma Drive, Oroville. Septic and well permits in the unincorporated county. Inside a city or town, well permits may still be filed here: the Town of Paradise's rebuild checklist, for one, sends them to this office. A well permit application includes a site plan showing the well, existing septic tanks and leach fields, and approximate property lines.
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Bus. & Prof. Code §§8762, 8766–8768, 8773; Gov. Code §§66442, 66450
Maps and survey records
Records of survey go to the Butte County Surveyor for examination and are then filed by the county recorder; corner records are filed with the county surveyor. Both apply whether or not the parcel is inside a city. Final and parcel maps are checked by the county surveyor in the unincorporated county, or by the city engineer or city surveyor inside a city, before they record.
Gridley and Biggs are cities of their own, but Butte County Development Services handles their building permits. Counters, forms and checklists change, so we confirm the right office for your APN before work starts. More on parcel and subdivision maps, lot line adjustments and records of survey and corner records.
Developers and builders
Subdivisions and apartments
The City of Oroville's Residential & Commercial Project List, updated June 10, 2025, counts 435 single-family units in six subdivisions and 1,328 multifamily units, not all built.
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Parcel & Subdivision Maps
Tentative, parcel and final maps drawn to the City's or the County's checklist and revised through map check, phase by phase on phased projects.
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Lot Line Adjustments & Mergers
Moving or removing lines between existing parcels, for example to set up the phases of an apartment site, without creating new lots.
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Improvement Plans
Street, water, sewer and storm drain plans for subdivision and apartment sites, drawn to the standards of the agency or district that will accept the improvements.
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Stormwater Calculations
Drainage and Low Impact Development sizing. Under the state Phase II stormwater permit that covers the City of Oroville, projects that create or replace 5,000 square feet or more of impervious surface are Regulated Projects that must use LID. The permit excludes detached single-family homes that are not part of a larger plan of development.
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Construction Staking
Line and grade for curbs, pipes and pads, set from the approved plans on one survey control network from the first phase to the last.
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SWPPP Services & QSP Programs
SWPPP preparation and QSP inspections for any phase that disturbs one acre or more, or is part of a larger common plan of development that does.
On the City's list, Feather Ranch (172 units) was approved in September 2023 and awaiting development, and Linkside Place II (56 units) had its final map under review. The list shows projects and developers, not who designed or surveyed them.
Tentative map life is changing. From January 1, 2027, SB 1169 gives tentative maps for final (tract) maps an initial life of 48 months instead of 24, for maps not expired by December 31, 2026; tentative maps for parcel maps keep their 24-month clock. Read what SB 1169 means for parcel and subdivision maps.
Owners
Homes and acreage in Palermo, Thermalito, Berry Creek and Yankee Hill
For a single lot or rural acreage around Oroville, this is the work we prepare for owners.
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Boundary surveys
Corners found or set and a sealed map before you fence, build near a line or buy land. See boundary surveying.
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Septic design where there is no sewer
Soil and percolation data, tank and leach field sizing, and a scaled site plan for Butte County Environmental Health. In unincorporated Butte County, the county's onsite wastewater manual reserves certain systems, including steep-slope, non-residential and supplemental-treatment systems, for a county-certified designer. American Engineering is not a Butte County certified designer, so for those systems we prepare the survey and coordinate with the certified designer you hire. See septic system design.
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Well and septic site plans, and plot plans
A Butte County well permit application includes a site plan showing the well, existing septic tanks and leach fields, and approximate property lines. Building permits for a house, ADU or shop call for a plot plan too. See plot plans for building permits.
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Elevation certificates and LOMAs
Where FEMA maps a flood zone on a parcel, an elevation certificate records the building's surveyed elevations for a building permit or a Letter of Map Amendment (LOMA) request. Look up the parcel on FEMA's Flood Map Service Center, then see elevation certificates.
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Rebuilding after a fire
Owners rebuilding after the 2018 Camp Fire in Concow or Yankee Hill, or after the 2020 North Complex fire in Berry Creek, can start with our Paradise & the Ridge page, which covers rebuild surveys, plot plans and the septic steps a rebuild permit asks for.
Process
How an Oroville project runs
A survey-only job usually ends after step two, or after the county surveyor's review when a record of survey must be filed; design and construction projects run through all four.
Send the parcel and the paperwork
The APN or address, plus any tentative map, conditions of approval or plan-check letter. We confirm whether the parcel is in the city or the county and which counter it files at.
Survey the site
Boundary and topographic surveys set one control network that the maps, plans and staking all use.
Design, submit and answer plan check
We prepare the maps and plans to the agency's checklist and respond to its comments. The City or the County decides.
Build and close out
Construction staking sets the approved design on the ground, and where a SWPPP applies, inspections continue until the Notice of Termination is approved.
Oroville and south Butte County FAQs
Do you respond to City of Oroville and Butte County solicitations?
Send us the solicitation, the scope and the due date, and we will tell you whether the work fits our services. Our capabilities statement summarizes what we offer public agencies and the prime consultants who team on their projects, and our Southside case study describes our street and storm drain work for the City of Oroville.
Can you be the local survey subconsultant for a Sacramento-area prime?
Yes, for projects in Butte County and the northern Sacramento Valley. A prime can bring us in for topographic and boundary surveys, right-of-way research and mapping, legal descriptions and plats, and construction staking, or for civil design such as street and storm drain plans. Send the solicitation or scope, the project limits and the schedule; our capabilities statement summarizes what we offer.
How far into the foothills do you work?
Butte County comes first, foothills included: we work in Berry Creek, Concow and Yankee Hill as well as on the Ridge around Paradise. Remote parcels can mean locked gates, unpaved roads and dense vegetation, so tell us about access when you send the APN and we will plan the fieldwork around it. Beyond Butte County and the northern Sacramento Valley, we take projects elsewhere in California by arrangement.
Is my parcel in the City of Oroville or the county?
Go by the parcel, not the mailing address: an Oroville address can sit outside city limits, and Thermalito has neighborhoods on both sides of the line. Planning, public works and building applications for parcels inside the city go to the City of Oroville. Parcels outside it file with Butte County, with septic and well permits through Butte County Environmental Health. Records of survey and corner records go to the Butte County Surveyor either way. We confirm the jurisdiction, and which office issues any well or septic permit, from the APN before work starts.
Further reading
- SB 1169 extends California tentative map life to 48 months: what it means for parcel and subdivision maps
- SWPPP requirements for California construction sites: a guide to the 2022 Construction General Permit
- FEMA elevation certificates in California: when you need one, and when a LOMA makes more sense
- How to find your property lines and corner pins in California
Sources & references
- Residential & Commercial Project List, updated June 10, 2025 (PDF) (City of Oroville)
- Applications & Permits: applications by department, online since November 5, 2024 (City of Oroville)
- Well Application Packet (PDF) (Butte County Environmental Health)
- Residential Building Permit Checklist, including the well permit from Butte County Environmental Health (PDF) (Town of Paradise, Building Resiliency Center)
- Building Inspection Services (City of Gridley)
- Building & Planning (City of Biggs)
- Business and Professions Code §8762, record of survey filing (California Legislative Information)
- Business and Professions Code §8773, corner records (California Legislative Information)
- Government Code §66442, surveyor's statement on final maps (California Legislative Information)
- SB 1169 (Stats. 2026, ch. 423): tentative map expiration, effective January 1, 2027 (California Legislative Information)
- Construction Stormwater Program (State Water Resources Control Board)
- Phase II Small MS4 General Permit, Order WQ 2013-0001-DWQ (conformed) (State Water Resources Control Board)
- FEMA Flood Map Service Center (Federal Emergency Management Agency)
Last reviewed .