I think that this will depend very much upon what the intent was, and how it was worded.
If something is stated as a limitation - then clearly going outside that is outside the CofA, and not to be done in normal operations. This might be for structural, fatigue, safety margin reasons...
Crosswinds, certainly in a fixed wing aircraft, are commonly defined as "maximum demonstrated", that's not a limitation: although may commonly be used to define local limitations.
Does anybody have the exact words to hand, as they apply to the R22, it would be interesting to read?
G