Is this what was originally planned?

i like the way your builder was set up

Yes palimpsest that is the general idea. Instead of slanting from second post down to the first, I was thinking about a slight elbow appearance from second down to first. Builder thought it looked too crowded between first and second post, especially with spindles and therefore set it up like the picture I included.

Oh first post would also be set away from the stairs by a few inches, not directly against the first stair like how you have it drawn

That would upset me. If he "thought" something would be better, he should have spoken to you about it first. It's not his house, it's yours and he shouldn't have the liberty to change something simply because he thinks it'd look better.

Cosmetic changes should get run by the homeowner. This sounds an awful lot like he made a mistake (either in procurement or in installation) and decided he could sell it as an "improvement". If it really was just about the look, why wouldn't he have asked for approval to essentially modify your contract?

I don't think he was purposely trying to do anything wrong. Was a little upset that he didn't let me know of the changes though. Otherwise it could've ended up an expensive fix for something I couldn't live with.

No he probably made the mistake and then figured he could get you to buy the idea.

I have a meeting next week with my build people and I'm going to make it quite clear that they are not to make any design decisions on their own. It's not their call and it's not his call. Get it fixed the way you wanted it. He goofed and he should fix it.

Will the handrails be set at the code required distance above the risers, or will there be a separate handrail on the inside of the railings to comply with code?

Yes it looks weird. Stick to the original plan of two on the landing and one on the floor.

Well after a whole day trying to figure this out this is what we ended up with. I think it'll look fine. At least it doesn't look as unappealing as the initial setup

International Residential Code

R311.7.8 Handrails.

Handrails shall be provided on at least one side of each continuous run of treads or flight with four or more risers.

FLIGHT. A continuous run of rectangular treads or winders or combination thereof from one landing to another.

R312.1.1 Where required.

Guards shall be located along open-sided walking surfaces, including stairs, ramps and landings, that are located more than 30 inches (762 mm) measured vertically to the floor or grade below at any point within 36 inches (914 mm) horizontally to the edge of the open side. Insect screening shall not be considered as a guard.

As shown here

The stair builder appears to be highly experienced and skilled. IMO his original simplification of an unnecessarily visually complicated design was elegant and impressive. There is no need for the short lamb's tongue rail but it's nicely constructed.

I like the fix much better than the original proposal

What you have now is precisely what I envisioned as the "best look." Very, very nice!

TribbleTrouble HA!!!!!!

Yes I think the final appearance of the stairs will look great with the changes. At first my builder and his trim guys didn't think it could be done and continued to try and talk me out of it. I whipped out a few pics on the iPad and basically asked him that if it couldn't be done then how were these builders able to do it. Conversation about stairs ended pretty quickly after that.

Please post pics as it progresses; I'm anxious to see how good it's going to look. :)

I like how it looks.

If this photo had been posted as a gripe on a builder, it would have gotten 100 sympathetic responses, and ended up calling the builder a terrible person, all because the two newel posts were different heights. haha.