No, this was a voltage check that is done part way through the manual to check that the board above the 12AU7 is operational before proceeding with the build. It's a lot easier to debug this board before continuing to build out more of the amp. This check is at the bottom of page 55.
As far as the 12AU7 goes, sometimes it's not all that easy to see whether the tube is glowing or not, so we would rely on electrical checks to ensure that it's conducting properly before calling it dead.