> I can't imagine that many corners being cut during construction of bridges and cathedrals in medieval times.

You can't imagine it because those bridges and cathedrals collapsed (and were probably rebuilt).

We do have a bit of selection bias since structures still standing were likely well built while those poorly built are simply gone.

You might be surprised, and horrified, to find out a not insignificant number of still standing buildings were built with no foundations. On a wing and a prayer, if you will.

https://thefogwatch.com/the-miracle-of-salisbury-cathedral/

Came across a house a year or so ago. The back half of the house was supported by an old tree stump. The person living there said the kitchen had an odd slope in the middle of it :)

I worked on a house where the previously built extension to the rear had been built over a soil pipe that let out into the ground, over the ~20 years since it had been built, it had tipped further and further and started to pull away from the house as the ground was eroded until we had to come in and knock it.

nice! I had one where I failed an inspection. Inspector comes out and signs off on the new job. "hey isnt this YOUR signature from the first time? Why did you sign off on it then if it is so wrong now?"

In my experience the opposite is true in construction today, at least where I live.

Everyone lives in fear of something with more wrath than a god. Liability.

Because of this they are not willing to do anything even slightly outside of code, and any decision that needs making is a phone call to the engineer rather than making the call on the job.

This slows everyone down as nobody is keen to actually be the one with responsibility. The engineeer who feels the same way also make sure that everything is overspecced to all hell to make extra cirtain that they won’t be liable for anything failing.

Well, but it is part of the "requirements imposed by society". For example, a few years ago in my city a supermarket roof caved in during reconstruction, killing 54 people; one cause of the event was an after-project underspecced change to a single key component, and the responsibility for that fact was quite important (I believe the civil engineer who signed off that change was sentenced to 6 years prison for manslaughter) - and arguably we do want everyone involved to consider that responsibility and not just "make the call" that seems sensible without going into detail, since not going into detail kills people.

Are you saying that's a bad thing? The code exists for mostly good reasons. I'm more inclined to do things myself, but if I have to hire someone, I damn well want them to be "not willing to do anything even slightly outside of code".

I'm sure plenty of corners were cut back then too... Just the buildings where corners were cut probably don't exist today. Survivorship bias...

I think some of it is just luck in that there has always been someone fixing the roof and a fire keeping damp and frost away.