I’m not saying we played fast and loose with the spec. I’m saying that there are plenty of places where the actual spec doesn’t use numbers and it is a judgement call for example minimum lead protrusion.
There are also plenty of places where a number is given but it is not possible to measure such as barrel fill on through hole components. In those situations an inspectors best bet is to eyeball it and if it’s even questionable to rework and correct the process so it isn’t. You don’t eyeball it when it’s close, but you also don’t need to measure, for example, lead protrusion on every lead when they all apear to be definitely under 1.5mm.