Since different controllers see that sometimes different it is just good airmanship to ask if not sure.
Usually i would understand a clearance like that to follow the procedure altitudes. However there are exceptions, for example transitions from SID to approach which may require different wording. Those designed by DFS have usually a warning on the charts: cleared for transition is only the lateral path, cleared for transition and profile is both the lateral and vertical path. This only applies to transitions though, if you only need a SID and approach i would think no "and profile" is needed but would clear things up for the flight crew.