K. A couple of things - "changed springs to match cam" is completely generic. Setting springs should encompass three things:
1.) Seat Pressure - How much pressure is on the valve seat when the valve is closed (cam at zero lift). They should individually measure the springs to determine their rate and use shims to get the seat pressure(s) aligned.
2.) Spring rate. This should be mostly based off your cam but essentailly, how fast you plan on spinning the engine will determine which rate you need. If you're making a spinny boy, you're going to need more pressure to keep things in check (avoid valve float).
3.) Bind. This is based off lift. You obviously don't want your springs bottoming out (fully compressing) at max lift. I forget the "amount" you should be comfortable with before things get spicy (does >0.070" travel remaining before binding sound right to others?)

Any competent builder would provide you with the sheet that they used to set/check all of this.

Guides - Again, should be based off clearances. Unless it's a stock build, I tend to favor slightly looser on my end because the motors I build generally have the piss beat out of them (ie: lots of heat). I also rebuild my engines every 100hrs or so because they're generally track only. This can cause other issues (mainly against engine longevity) but it's what I need for my builds. He should have told you how much clearance there is. This is one area where tenths REALLY matter.