Disclaimer - Architect here. Mostly large firms, projects and jurisdictions, so I don’t see much of what goes on in small firms, projects, jurisdictions.
My experience has been that architects mean well and are trying to do a good job for their client, which includes following the codes. I get the impression architects are often considered by contractors to be less competent because they don’t know as much as contractors about how things get built. They are considered by engineers to be less competent because they don’t know as much as engineers about how that engineer’s specialty works. They are considered by code officials to be less competent because they don’t know as much about the local code as the local code official does.
This is nothing new. It isn‘t likely to change. Architects are not typically specialists in codes. In my first 10 years in the profession I worked on projects under the UBC, SBC, BOCA, NFPA 101 and the Florida, Georgia and North Carolina variations on the SBC. There was of course ADAAG, FHADM, ANSI A117.1, and the state accessibility codes in Texas and Georgia. Given all the time architects spend on client relationships, project management, design, and producing and coordinating drawings, on average they have only a few hours per project to learn the code. And it might be a different code or at least a different amendment than last time. It’s no wonder if they don’t know it as well as the plans examiner.