Loft Insulation and electric cables

amsquared

There seems to be contradicting advice about laying top up loft insulation over electric cables. My understanding is that it should not be a problem to lay insulation over lighting cables but that cables for things like electric showers and electric ovens must not be covered. Electricians obviously err on the side of caution and say don't cover any cables.

There are a few cables in my loft with no slack so I can't lift them over the additional 170mm of insulation, which means I will have to cut the insulation around the cables.

Am I breaking building regs if I cover them?

Nerox

like you said, it depends on the cable type, generally lighting cables are 1.5mm sq which is rated to 16 amps, cover it in insulation and that drops by 50% to 8amps max capacity, your breaker for lighting circuit is usually 6 amps so thats all fine, other circuits are usually run much closer to their capacity so insulating around them could be dangerous. can you not extend the cable?