frv,
design fees usually constitute a small percentage of the project costs, and doing a more in depth analysis represents a modest change in this quantity. so I think the cost benefit analysis might not yield the results you are expecting. More often than not, at least in the structural field, I believe more investment in design costs will yield an overall reduction in total project costs, not an increase. Finally, if you learn these techniques, then being paid to do them is a positive thing, not a negative.
Another perspective on the structural code issues. I'll agree the new codes can be more complex and sometimes, time consuming, but not in all cases.
A couple points, in the past many items in codes were organized in tables and charts, the primary reason for this was that the governing equations that determined these tables were too difficult or impractical to solve, AT THAT TIME. Now. a decent calculator with a solver function can easily spit out the answers to these equations. There really is no excuse for not using the actual equation anymore. Using the equation will yield more accurate and less overly conservative (wasteful)results. So I don't have much sympathy for whining about advancements of this sort.
Second, we owe it to our clients to put in the time and produce the most efficient designs possible. I am not talking about cutting corners or producing unsafe designs, but being wasteful about our designs is not in the owner's best interests. Our clients should expect that we adopt the latest advancements in our field and spend the time to learn the codes that govern our practice. Imagine how silly we'd sound these days if we whined about having to learn cad drafting, or how would you feel about a doctor who stopped learning of any new medical advances in his field after he graduated in the early 80s? Does everyone need to apply every single technique available, no, but i believe you should make a strong effort to keep up to date with the general concepts and if possible, not become bitter.
One final note, I exclude BIM/IDP from the above discussion, as I believe these alter the business relationship between the various parties and requires separate discussion.