Horses for courses.
Spannersatcx, surely this rather depends on why the cowlings were opened in the first place. If it was for a maintenance task, I agree with what you say.
As a F/E I could enter a defect into the Aircraft Technical Log for anything about which I was unhappy e.g. No.1 engine cowlings open. It is then up to you, the licenced engineer to clear the defect.
You could do the same.
Many (minor) defects are cleared without reference to the AMM.