To what extent does the customer have input into how you control a special process such as painting? Checking for FOD , paint adhesion, even coverage, streaks/runs, orange peel are all quite straightforward and "good practice" to a large degree and we're doing that already through operator verification. Our painter is industry experienced, but we don't have a current qualification program in place as yet.
So if the customer HASN'T specified paint thickness, would you control that characteristic as well as a matter of course, since it is a function of the painting process, or would you not measure it because the customer doesn't require you to?
It would seem to me the key word is "deficiencies". If there is no customer and/or design requirement specified as a process output, then the resulting output can't be deemed deficient. Is that a reasonable position to take or not?