The structural building code (the International Building Code, IBC) in Washington in general specifies what loads must be applied to a structure (earthquake, wind, snow) and how the structure must be adequate to withstand these loads and allow all occupants to escape after an event (eg earthquake).

An engineers gain nothing if a building is over- OR under- built, as they are paid based on a finished set of plans and calculations, so it isn't fair to say engineers are shortsighted. In contrast, the owners/developers of a building want to legally build as inexpensively possible (of course) because they are a business and they can absolutely be short-sighted, but the building code still requires all structures to be engineered to allow all occupants to escape.