The reason it's expensive isn't just the aviation regulations. It's regulations in general and the box-ticking, paper-war, arse-covering mentality that our society has embraced. All of this stuff has to be paid for somehow and the guys that do this stuff won't wait 90 or 180 days to be paid.
We had a box-ticker come visit our factory unit (strata titled) to do the 3-monthly "fire safety check". He's paid by someone (everyone?) to swan around checking lights, doors, extinguishers, ticking boxes on his special iPad application and collecting signatures, just because some lawyer types decided it was a very necessary thing, irrespective of the cost-benefit.
What happened to personal responsibility? It's the cheapest way of dealing with the problem, usually. Insurance premiums are also a great motivator!
This is just one example of our follow-the-rules-based culture that we have to fund somehow. Of course the government loves it because it's all part of the make-work, full employment mantra. To hell with efficiency and the meaning of life.