>> Building codes are a joke!

It's not the codes, but the physics. The first two years after a building is build, it will change it's geometry until it settles. That happens because building has a significant weight and the earth under the building was unsettled, and now is under a pressure.

Not very noticeable in a light weight houses, but even small brick one-family house will do that.

Building codes account for that, but it's better and significantly cheaper to build that way then to build a totally rigid structure. Rigid is brittle.

In ancient city of Rome, it was more expensive to rent a room in multi-story building if the landlords lived in it as well. It showed that landlord was brave enough that the building will not fall one day onto themselves.