Yes. There are a LOT of things that are supposed to be asked of an L1 that seldom are. I contend that if the certifying officials were following the checklist we would have fewer problems overall.
I agree. I like to watch cert candidates build motors, especially L1 and L2. In fact the last error that I saw during a cert flight was with a DMS motor where the candidate neglected to insert the washer in the ejection well after drilling the delay.
L3 motors are actually easier to build and now that many require bonding grains to the liner or to each other, which must be done in advance, there’s less opportunity to witness them being built.