You hit the nail on the head, there is no difference IF, they are using a tape measure that uses 1/16th divisions. Yet, were they? Was there tape setup to 32nd? I hope it was standard and not metric.
My neighbor volunteered to "help" me cut some lumber to various sizes. (he had a new saw he wanted to try out)
He needed a tape measure, so I told him to grab one off the black Craftsman rollaway at the back of the garage.
He proceeded to cut 4 or 5 pieces, and I found the first one was the wrong length.
Eventually we figured out that instead of getting a tape where I told him to, he grabbed one off a high shelf on the opposite side of the garage.
It was my engineers tape. (1/10" graduations)
No harm done, all the pieces he cut were recut to shorter pieces for the project.
I guess the bad part is that he
A) didn't follow instructions
B) didn't notice the "Engineers Tape" label or 1/10 graduations.
He is a retired nuclear plant inspector.