Well that gets blown out of the water in the fact that lifed items will often fall out of what was the 3 yearly inspection, A company may well of happily signed out your CofA last time round perfectly legally
Indeed, but checking the lifed items is not a back to birth inspection. It is a check of the lifed items. On a Cessna there are very few lifed items even under Part M. Everything else should be part of a standard annual, AD checks etc.