[Snoonyb]

Counter top height should be 36" above the "finished" floor. This is somewhat criticle if you have a DW and are installing a tile floor which is preceeded by a wonder boadr or other stabilizing substrait.

The standard height to the bottom of the upper cabinets is 54", which leaves 18" and in some municipalities, this will be a code for the cabinets adjacent to the countertop cooking appliance. In fact, you were once required to install a vent hood 6" larger than the cooktop.

That being said, I've seen the distance between the countertop and the upper cabinets from 12.5" and 22".

In your "disagreement" with your contractor, are there two culprits in this, was the contractor with you when you ordered the cabinets.
Since 96" is the standard finished ceiling height using conventional dimensioned lumber, how did yours become 94".

If this was due to repeated floor over floor installation, it would have been obvious from the demo.

Illegitimas non-carborundum